This report catalogues deteriorating religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country on August 15, 2021. Afghans who do not adhere to the Taliban’s harsh and strict interpretation of Islam, as well as those who follow other faiths or beliefs, face grave threats in the current environment—despite initial statements from the Taliban that it had reformed some elements of its ideology. In September 2021, the Taliban reinstated the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which uses a notoriously violent hardline Islamist policing system. USCIRF has documented and received credible reports of violence including executions, disappearances, evictions, desecration of houses of worship, beatings, harassment, and threats of violence to members of particularly vulnerable religious communities.

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