A Catholic Afghan family in terror of the Taliban have appealed to Pope Francis to help them escape the country.

Afghan citizens are prohibited from converting to Christianity and there is only one officially recognised Christian church in Afghanistan, the Catholic chapel inside the Italian Embassy.

However, neighbours discovered and reported them two weeks ago.

As a result, the father of the family was arrested six days ago, while the rest of the family was forced to flee.

The family say the Taliban are going door to door asking whether any Christians live there or in that community.

Now a friend in Rome is trying to get a letter into Francis’ hands in which the family appeals to the pope and the international community to help them leave the country.

“These are days of terror and the idea of falling into the hands of soldiers terrifies me,” read the appeal.

“If they were ever to capture me or other members of my family I would rather die,” wrote the family.

With the Taliban going house to house looking for unmarried women, the letter said, it pleaded “to save us from this situation, which is endangering me and many other families, especially Christian girls.”