Religious freedom in Afghanistan ‘drastically deteriorated’ after Taliban took over, US commission says

After one year in power, the Taliban has harshly cracked down on all forms of religion that do not conform with their extreme interpretation of Islam, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report on Tuesday, August 23.

The Taliban reinstated Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which has strictly enforced “what they deem as Islamically appropriate dress and behavior.”

The Taliban preaches a hardline version of Sunni Islam and has killed dozens of Shia Muslims over the past year. The Hazara people, an ethnic minority that practices Shia Islam, have been displaced by the thousands as the Taliban forced them out of their homes.

When not cracking down on Shia Muslims, the Taliban has also failed to protect the minority from attacks by ISIS-K, the report said.