{"id":676550,"date":"2021-08-23T17:35:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T21:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=676550"},"modified":"2021-08-23T17:35:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T21:35:31","slug":"fact-check-did-the-taliban-sentence-229-christian-missionaries-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-the-taliban-sentence-229-christian-missionaries-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did The Taliban Sentence 229 Christian Missionaries To Death?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-the-taliban-sentence-229-christian-missionaries-to-death%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=676550&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An image <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/INGODWETRUST.TV\/photos\/a.1335128806498446\/4861246893886602\/?type=3&amp;theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims 229 Christian missionaries were recently sentenced to death by \u201cAfghan Islamists.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7266441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7266441\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7266441\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Facebook\/Screenshot\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM.jpg 463w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM-72x120.jpg 72w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM-620x1027-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM-768x1272-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM-1536x2544-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-23-at-1.00.49-PM-2048x3392-1-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7266441\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Facebook\/Screenshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence the Taliban recently sentenced 229 Christian missionaries to death. The post appears to be an iteration of a hoax that circulated over the years.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The message about 229 Christian missionaries being allegedly sentenced to death \u201ctomorrow afternoon\u201d by \u201cAfghan Islamists\u201d has been circulating online amid the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/08\/23\/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ongoing crisis<\/a> in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>The Taliban took control of the capital city of Kabul on Aug. 15 after having previously seized major cities across Afghanistan, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/taliban-takeover-afghanistan-what-to-know-1a74c9cd866866f196c478aba21b60b6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Associated Press<\/a>. The U.S. and other countries have since been rushing to evacuate their citizens, Afghan allies and others from the country via Kabul\u2019s airport, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/evacuations-afghanistan-by-country-2021-08-18\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reuters<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease pray for the 229 Christian missionaries, who have been sentenced to death tomorrow afternoon by the Afghan Islamists,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/INGODWETRUST.TV\/photos\/a.1335128806498446\/4861246893886602\/?type=3&amp;theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">viral message<\/a> reads in part. It goes on to state that the \u201cradical Islamic group has just taken Quaragosh, the largest Christian city in Iraq\u201d where \u201cthere are hundreds of Christian men, women, and children who are being beheaded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Taliban has historically <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.nyls.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&amp;context=journal_of_human_rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">persecuted religious minority groups<\/a>. Groups such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\/countries\/afghanistan\/uscirf-calls-us-government-include-religious-minority-communities-afghanistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom<\/a> and individuals such as <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/international\/568992-afghanistans-christians-are-turning-off-phones-and-going-into-hiding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kelsey Zorzi<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unforb.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">president<\/a> of the U.N.\u2019s NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, have also expressed concerns about the safety of members of religious minority groups in Afghanistan since the Taliban\u2019s takeover.<\/p>\n<p>There is, however, no indication the Taliban recently sentenced 229 Christian missionaries to death as the Facebook post claims. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2018\/02\/14\/fact-check-is-the-us-spending-50-billion-a-year-in-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Is The US Spending $50 Billion A Year In Afghanistan?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The viral message mentions Qaraqosh, a Christian town in Iraq \u2013 not Afghanistan \u2013 that was retaken from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2016, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-bartella\/church-bells-peal-in-town-retaken-by-iraqi-troops-from-islamic-state-idUSKCN12L2HU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reuters<\/a>. Pope Francis visited the town in March 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-56309779\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BBC News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>It appears that the post\u2019s claim is an iteration of a hoax that has spread and been debunked over the years. In 2019, Check Your Fact rated false a <a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2019\/12\/29\/fact-check-image-22-christian-missionaries-sentenced-death-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">similar claim<\/a> that 22 Christian missionaries had been sentenced to death in Afghanistan. Versions of the hoax have been circulating online in various formats since at least 2009, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/22-missionaries-prayer-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snopes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The sentencing to death of 229 Christian missionaries at once by the Taliban or \u201cAfghan Islamists\u201d amid the ongoing Afghanistan crisis would almost certainly have been covered by major media outlets. Check Your Fact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=229+christians+sentenced+Taliban&amp;source=lnms&amp;tbm=nws&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi64uy18MfyAhURCs0KHTJaBcMQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&amp;biw=1321&amp;bih=764\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">didn\u2019t find<\/a> any such news reports matching the incident described in the Facebook post at the time of publication.<\/p>\n<p>Christians and other non-Muslim religious groups constitute less than 0.3 percent of Afghanistan\u2019s population, the U.S. State Department estimated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">its 2020 report<\/a> on international religious freedom. Under the Afghan government\u2019s laws, conversion from Islam to another religion was \u201cpunishable by death, imprisonment, or confiscation of property,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An image shared on Facebook claims 229 Christian missionaries were recently sentenced to death by \u201cAfghan Islamists.\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-676550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}