Taliban close aid group for propagating Christianity

Afghanistan's government has closed a foreign aid group's office and arrested 24 workers.

The Taliban rulers say Shelter Now has been propagating Christianity and trying to convert Muslims.

The Bakhtar News Agency reports that 64 Afghans who said they had received instructions in Christianity have also been arrested.

A German and Australian were among those arrested but the nationalities of the other foreign women workers is not known.

In Taliban-ruled Afghanistan it is a crime punishable by death to either propagate any religion other than Islam or to convert from Islam to any religion.

Shelter Now distributes humanitarian aid and constructs makeshift shelters for impoverished Afghans.

The first Shelter Now employees arrested were two women who were picked up by the Taliban's religious police on Friday. They were arrested after visiting the home of an Afghan.