<\/p>\n
Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban authorities have arrested at least 18 staff of an international NGO, including an American woman, accusing them of carrying out Christian missionary work, the country\u2019s leaders said Saturday.<\/p>\n
The International Assistance Mission (IAM) confirmed its staffers were picked up from its office in Ghor province, central Afghanistan, and taken to Kabul.<\/p>\n
Security and intelligence forces had been observing the group for some time, Abdul Wahid Hamas Ghori, a government spokesman for the province, told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cDocuments and audios were obtained that showed they were inviting people to join Christianity,\u201d he said, without providing further details.<\/p>\n He said 21 people were arrested, including an American woman.<\/p>\n IAM said in a statement earlier that 18 people, including a \u201cforeigner\u201d, were being held and that it had no information about the nature of the allegations.<\/p>\n The American woman and two Afghan staff were the first to be detained on September 3, followed by 15 more Afghan employees on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cShould any charges be lodged against our organisation or any individual staff member, we will independently review any evidence presented,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n IAM\u2019s website says the organisation is founded on Christian values, but that it does not provide aid according to political or religious belief.<\/p>\n \u201cWe value and respect local customs and cultures,\u201d the Swiss-registered group said in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n IAM has operated in Afghanistan since 1966 \u2014 through previous royal, communist and Taliban governments \u2014 when it specialised in eye care, later branching out into other areas of health and education.<\/p>\n In 2010, 10 IAM medics, including eight foreigners, were shot dead<\/a> in an attack in remote northern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n At the time, competing theories emerged over the motive for the attack, with police saying it was likely a robbery.<\/p>\n However, two militant groups claimed responsibility, including Taliban leaders who said the medics were Christian missionaries and accused them of working as military spies.<\/p>\n Dozens of foreigners \u2014 including several Westerners \u2014 have been detained by the Taliban authorities since the group\u2019s return to power<\/a> in August 2021.<\/p>\n The Taliban rulers have imposed sweeping restrictions<\/a> on the population they say are in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law \u2014 including barring women from working for NGOs<\/a> and the United Nations.<\/p>\n