Concerns for welfare of nuns and priests stranded in Afghanistan

Prayers are being sought for the safety of two Jesuit priests and four nuns stranded in Afghanistan.

One of the priests is Fr Jerome Sequeira, from India, who headed up the Jesuit Refugee Service's Afghanistan division until the Taliban takeover.

The Jesuit Refugee Service has now suspended all of its operations in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Fr Sequeira says he tried to go to Kabul airport to catch a flight back to India but found that the airport staff had already abandoned the place and the Taliban were shooting into the air to control the crowds, Vatican News reports.

He described the chaos on the streets as "terrifying" and unlike anything he had experienced in his 15 years in the country.

In a message to friends and colleagues, Fr Sequeira said, "Thank you for your continuous prayers for our safety. The way the situation is changing in the country, it is anyone's imagination ... safety does not make sense here. It is a chaotic situation."

The stranded nuns belong to the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Jesuit Father Robert Rodrigues, also from India, is trapped in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

He was at Bamiyan airport on August 15 waiting to take a United Nations flight to Kabul when the airport was suddenly abandoned by security personnel.

Fr Sequeira said that Fr Rodrigues is safe and that he is working with UN agencies to evacuate the priest from Bamiyan to Kabul.

He also voiced fears that things may soon worsen for the people of Afghanistan.

"They [the Taliban] are not harming the civilians at the moment but it will come once they have fully captured all the systems of the country," he said.

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