Kabul 24: The Story of a Taliban Kidnapping and Unwavering Faith in the Face of True Terror »

The story of the capture and imprisonment of eight Western aid workers in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

For three months in 2001, the desperate plight of aid workers kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan captured the attention of the world. With the growing specter of U.S. retaliation for 9/11, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden attempted to use their Western hostages as bargaining tools. What the captors did not count on was coming face-to-face with the enduring faith of people who know their only hope was in Christ.

Kabul 24 revisits their grueling interrogations, their sham trials before the Taliban Supreme Court, their peril during the bombing of Kabul, and the crushing sense that the world had abandoned them. It reveals not only the eight Westerners' 105 days in captivity but also the gauntlet endured by their 16 Muslim coworkers who, after being taken to the notorious Pulicharki Prison, were beaten and tortured, having been accused by the Taliban of converting to Christianity.

Foreword Michael W. Smith ix

Authors'Note xi

Prorogue xiii

Chapter 1 The Arrests 1

Chapter 2 In the Blink of an Eye 27

Chapter 3 Interrogations 49

Chapter 4 Justice, Taliban-Style 81

Chapter 5 The World Turned Over 103

Chapter 6 Hamid Hotel 125

Chapter 7 Unusual Prisonmates 159

Chapter 8 Highway to Kandahar 191

Chapter 9 Life or Death 225

Epilogue 263

Acknowledgments 279

About the Authors 281