71 Year Old Pastor Shot To Death in the Philippines
27 December 20111
By Noel Tarrazona - Special to ASSIST News Service
MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES (ANS) -- A 71-year old pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance was shot dead on Monday, December 19th, 2011, a few blocks away from a private hospital in this island region, while on board a public Jeepney, the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines.
A police investigation identified the victim as Pastor Melencio Magdayao of the province who was seated on the front seat and was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on board a motorcycle.
Police Station 6 chief Albert Larubis said Pastor Magdayao sustained two bullet wounds in the head and died on the spot.
A police investigator has recovered two empty .45 caliber capsules from the crime scene.
The duo of assailants immediately fled from the crime scene that occured in the middle of vehicular traffic congestion.
The province is known for Christian pastors becoming victims of persecution. Just early this year, a lady pastor of a local Pentecostal church was hacked to death by suspected Moslem rebels in front of her daughter.
Christian community leaders have asked their Christian brethren around the world to pray for the evangelistic work in this restive region. There are three active Moslem rebel groups fighting for a possible separate Islamic state in the predominantly Christian Southern Philippines. They are the Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf.
26 Christians killed as Islamist group bombs Christmas services in Nigeria
(BBC) 25 December 2011 - Bomb blasts targeting Christmas Day church services in two Nigerian cities have left at least 28 people dead, with three more attacks on other towns.
The Islamist group Boko Haram said it had attacked St Theresa's Church in Madalla, near the capital Abuja, killing 27 people.
A second explosion shortly after hit a church in the central city of Jos. A policeman died during gunfire.Three attacks in northern Yobe state targeted a church and security forces.
Two hit the town of Damaturu, and a third struck Gadaka. Yobe state has been the epicentre of violence between security forces and Boko Haram militants.
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(BBC) Nigeria churches hit by blasts during Christmas prayers
Christian couple killed in Iraq as US troops withdraw from country (barnabasfund)
20 December 2011 - (barnabasfund) Iraq - A young Christian couple have been killed and a Christian man kidnapped in Iraq, heightening fears about the increasing threat to the Christian community now US troops have left the country.
Adnan Elia Jakmakji (34) and his wife Raghad al Tawil (25) were shot dead in their car last Tuesday (13 December). Their two sons were wounded as gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets. The family was ambushed in Mosul, northern Iraq, by an armed group.
The previous day, Sermat Patros, a 29-year-old Christian man, was kidnapped from his family’s home furnishings store in Ankawa in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. He was held for three days, during which his captors demanded a $500,000 ransom. Sermat, who was blindfolded and tied down during his ordeal, was rescued by a SWAT team on Thursday morning (15 December) to the great relief of his 21-year-old wife Amal and the local Christian community.
The kidnapping follows an outbreak of anti-Christian violence in Zakho, Kurdistan, earlier this month. Shops and businesses belonging to Christians were torched by Islamists on 2 December; the owners were later threatened with death if they re-opened the premises.
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have moved to Kurdistan to escape anti-Christian violence in other parts of the country; this region is increasingly looking less of a safe haven for them.
FEARS OVER US TROOPS EXIT
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, scores of Christians have been killed and more than 50 churches bombed in anti-Christian attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled their homes, either to the more stable north or to neighbouring countries such as Syriaand Jordan.
Many Iraqi Christians and other minority groups fear that the withdrawal of US troops, which was completed on Sunday (18 December), could cause further instability and violence in the country, making them even more vulnerable.
Some observers expect that Iranian influence will increase following the US exit; this could further aggravate ethnic and religious divisions.
A 26-year-old Christian who lives in Kurdistan said:
Whether it’s Sunni-Shia, Kurdish-Arab, or Muslim-Christian, the troubles will escalate. There is no real future for us in Iraq.
“CHRISTMAS IN SECRET”
In addition to the security concerns surrounding the withdrawal of US troops, the Christmas season often brings an increase in anti-Christian violence in Iraq. Consequently, celebrations will be very low key.
A senior church leader in Kirkuk said:
The Christians of Mosul and Baghdad will once again celebrate Christmas in secret this year, and they fear that at any moment the armed groups will break into their homes and shoot them for no apparent reason.
Christian activist killed in India (BosNewsLife)
20 December 2011 - BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA (BosNewsLife)-- A prominent rights activist of India's main umbrella group of evangelical churches has been killed by suspected Hindu hardliners in the volatile state of Orissa, local Christians confirmed to BosNewsLife, Friday December 16.
Rabindra Kumar Parichha of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) was reportedly killed late Thursday, December 15, in the town of Bhanjanagar in Orissa's Ganjam District.
Christians said Parichha was found with his throat cut and there were signs he had been shot in his stomach.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the killing, but missionary Markose K J, of the Catholic 'Montfort Missionaries' order, told BosNewsLife that the killing came amid threats by Hindu hardliners.
Manoj Pradhan, an Orissa legislator and leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), and followers were seen moving into several villages. They allegedly threatened to kill all Christian leaders in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where over 100 people died in anti-Christian violence since August 2008.
FACING PROSECUTION
There was no immediate comment from Pradhan, who has been investigated by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in arson and murder of local Christians.
Paricha was one of EFI's leading advocates on behalf of Orissa Christians, including survivors of the recent violence.
He previously worked as the head of a council representing indigenous villagers, including of his village Bhaliapada, where he leaves behind a wife and family.
Paricha was the third Christian leader to be killed in Orissa this year. Pastor Saul Pradhan of Banjamaha village was Orissa's first known Christian murdered in 2011, according to rights activists.
Police claimed he died due to "much alcohol and being out in the cold", charges his family denied.
Another pastor, Minoketan Nayak of the village of Midiakia was killed in July, Christians said. Police added at the time he died "because of a bike accident."
His supporters claimed the pastor was killed and accused police and local administration officials of refusing to properly investigate the case as they allegedly supported Hindu militants.
CHRISTMAS FEARS
With Christmas approaching, Christians are "in panic" whether they will be next on the Hindu hardliners' death list, said missionary Markose K J, who is also a social activist.
He said an organization linked to BJP has called for a Hindu 'Bandh', a form of Hindu protests, around Christmas from December 23 through December 27. "Memories of the horror during Christmas of 2007 are still fresh in the minds of Christians of Kandhamal" said Markose K J, referring to violence in which at least 9 Christians died.
There have also been massive Hindu rallies with hate speeches in July this year, he added.
Christians comprise just over 2 percent of India's over 1 billion people, who are mainly Hindu.
However there has been growing concern among Hindu nationalist groups about the spread of Christianity, including among Dalits, viewed as the lowest caste in India's ancient system of Hinduism.
MORE ATTACKS
There have been attacks across India against Christians, although Orissa became known for its particular violence against the minority.
Among other cases making headlines was the killing in 2009 of Australian missionary Graham Steines, 58, and his sons Philip, 9, and Timothy, 7. They were sleeping in their station wagon in Manoharpur village when they were attacked by a mob of Hindu extremists and burned alive inside their vehicle.
Staines had spent over 30 years working with leprosy sufferers in India.
His widow, Gladys Staines, said in recent interviews that she had forgiven the killers and that Christ was her companion.
"I feel sad that I do not have my husband to support me, to guard me,” she said, adding that "these are just momentary emotions" of sadness. "[I have] the hope of heaven and of being reunited with my husband and children in paradise and seeing the Father face to face. This guarantee fills me with consolation.” (With additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos).
By BosNewsLife Asia Correspondent Santosh Digal reporting from India
Christian woman killed during attempted rape in Pakistan (AsiaNews)
(AsiaNews) 06 December 2011 - 28 year old Muslim Arif Gujjar is under police custody for questioning for the murder of 18 year old Christian Amariah Masih shot to death Nov. 27. The girl was originally from the village of Tehsil Samundari, about 40 km from Faisalabad (Punjab), and was murdered because she resisted an attempted rape. Arif Gujjar is a "young drifter and drug addict," the son of a wealthy landowner in the area named Shafi Gujjar. The girl's father calls for justice, while the Muslim community gathers around the family overwhelmed by grief.
Razia Bibi, 50, mother of Amariah, tells AsiaNews that she and her daughter were on their way to the channel to collect drinking water, which is not available in the village. At first Arif Gujjar, in the company of a friend whose identity is still unknown, took possession the motorbike on which they were travelling, then grabbed the girl and, under the threat of a gun, trying to drag her away. The young Christian resisted, trying to escape the clutches of her attacker. The man opened fire and killed her instantly, and later tried to conceal the corpse.
The body was found by her father, Mansha Masih, 53, a father of five daughters and two sons. He denounced the suspect, who was near the area where he had tried to hides the corpse and erase the traces of the murder. The police was immediately put on the trail of Arif, stopping him shortly after. The girl's father thanked the police, who "have worked hard" to arrest the culprit.
At the end of the 18 year old Christian’s funeral, added her father (pictured), a Muslim delegation met with the family, to express solidarity and bring harmony and peace within the community. Mansha Masih, however, urged that justice is done and ensures that he "will fight to get it" because "they are the victim of a cruel act." Her funeral was celebrated by Father Zafal Iqbal, a native of Khushpur, who explains to AsiaNews: "wealthy and influential landowners often take aim at those who are marginalized and vulnerable, for their dirty interests."
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(AsiaNews) Faisalabad, 18 year old Christian woman killed during an attempted rape
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Faisalabad,-18-year-old-Christian-woman-killed-during-an-attempted-rape-23336.html
2 Christians killed as thousands of Muslims attack Egyptian village (AINA)
(AssyrianInternationalNewsAgency) 01 December 2011 - Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.
The events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Mr. Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house. This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property. "Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.
In the altercation between the neighbors, Mr. Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital.
Angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home (video of the murdered Copts. WARNING: contains highly graphic content).
Three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care. They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.
After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses.
Despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.
"This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness.
"Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property,", said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind. "We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."
He added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are 500 Muslims for every one policeman.
Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.
Christian inhabitants are still afraid to venture into the streets.
Father Lucas Aghapios, pastor of St. George's Church in alGhorayzat, described the situation in the village today as "cautioned" peace. He said that although the Muslim attack started at 11 AM, security forces turned up late in the evening, and Muslim transgressions occurred in the presence of the security forces. Father Lucas said that yesterday Muslim attacks resulted in 25 incidents of looting and torching of Christian-owned shops, in addition to 8 homes. He confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the events, but could not confirm that John Hosni had surrendered to the police. "Yesterday John Hosni was in a safe place, but he is not in the village, I do not know his whereabouts." He does not know whether any Muslims were arrested in connection with the slaughtering of the two Coptic brothers.
A funeral for Abdel-Nazeer was held on Tuesday.
Bishop Bachoum of Sohag said this evening on CTV Coptic Channel that funerals for the two Copts were held in Sohag and they were buried in their village of elGhorayzat, under heavy security. He said that efforts are under way for a "reconciliation" meeting between Muslim and Christians elders.
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(AssyrianInternationalNewsAgency) Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched
http://www.aina.org/news/20111130113351.htm
Article by Mary Abdelmassih
71 Year Old Pastor Shot To Death in the Philippines
27 December 20111By Noel Tarrazona - Special to ASSIST News Service
MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES (ANS) -- A 71-year old pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance was shot dead on Monday, December 19th, 2011, a few blocks away from a private hospital in this island region, while on board a public Jeepney, the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines.
A police investigation identified the victim as Pastor Melencio Magdayao of the province who was seated on the front seat and was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on board a motorcycle.
Police Station 6 chief Albert Larubis said Pastor Magdayao sustained two bullet wounds in the head and died on the spot.
A police investigator has recovered two empty .45 caliber capsules from the crime scene.
The duo of assailants immediately fled from the crime scene that occured in the middle of vehicular traffic congestion.
The province is known for Christian pastors becoming victims of persecution. Just early this year, a lady pastor of a local Pentecostal church was hacked to death by suspected Moslem rebels in front of her daughter.
Christian community leaders have asked their Christian brethren around the world to pray for the evangelistic work in this restive region. There are three active Moslem rebel groups fighting for a possible separate Islamic state in the predominantly Christian Southern Philippines. They are the Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf.
26 Christians killed as Islamist group bombs Christmas services in Nigeria
(BBC) 25 December 2011 - Bomb blasts targeting Christmas Day church services in two Nigerian cities have left at least 28 people dead, with three more attacks on other towns.The Islamist group Boko Haram said it had attacked St Theresa's Church in Madalla, near the capital Abuja, killing 27 people.
A second explosion shortly after hit a church in the central city of Jos. A policeman died during gunfire.Three attacks in northern Yobe state targeted a church and security forces.
Two hit the town of Damaturu, and a third struck Gadaka. Yobe state has been the epicentre of violence between security forces and Boko Haram militants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(BBC) Nigeria churches hit by blasts during Christmas prayers
Christian couple killed in Iraq as US troops withdraw from country (barnabasfund)
20 December 2011 - (barnabasfund) Iraq - A young Christian couple have been killed and a Christian man kidnapped in Iraq, heightening fears about the increasing threat to the Christian community now US troops have left the country.
Adnan Elia Jakmakji (34) and his wife Raghad al Tawil (25) were shot dead in their car last Tuesday (13 December). Their two sons were wounded as gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets. The family was ambushed in Mosul, northern Iraq, by an armed group.
The previous day, Sermat Patros, a 29-year-old Christian man, was kidnapped from his family’s home furnishings store in Ankawa in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. He was held for three days, during which his captors demanded a $500,000 ransom. Sermat, who was blindfolded and tied down during his ordeal, was rescued by a SWAT team on Thursday morning (15 December) to the great relief of his 21-year-old wife Amal and the local Christian community.
The kidnapping follows an outbreak of anti-Christian violence in Zakho, Kurdistan, earlier this month. Shops and businesses belonging to Christians were torched by Islamists on 2 December; the owners were later threatened with death if they re-opened the premises.
Thousands of Iraqi Christians have moved to Kurdistan to escape anti-Christian violence in other parts of the country; this region is increasingly looking less of a safe haven for them.
FEARS OVER US TROOPS EXIT
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, scores of Christians have been killed and more than 50 churches bombed in anti-Christian attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled their homes, either to the more stable north or to neighbouring countries such as Syriaand Jordan.
Many Iraqi Christians and other minority groups fear that the withdrawal of US troops, which was completed on Sunday (18 December), could cause further instability and violence in the country, making them even more vulnerable.
Some observers expect that Iranian influence will increase following the US exit; this could further aggravate ethnic and religious divisions.
A 26-year-old Christian who lives in Kurdistan said:
“CHRISTMAS IN SECRET”Whether it’s Sunni-Shia, Kurdish-Arab, or Muslim-Christian, the troubles will escalate. There is no real future for us in Iraq.
In addition to the security concerns surrounding the withdrawal of US troops, the Christmas season often brings an increase in anti-Christian violence in Iraq. Consequently, celebrations will be very low key.
A senior church leader in Kirkuk said:
The Christians of Mosul and Baghdad will once again celebrate Christmas in secret this year, and they fear that at any moment the armed groups will break into their homes and shoot them for no apparent reason.Christian activist killed in India (BosNewsLife)
20 December 2011 - BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA (BosNewsLife)-- A prominent rights activist of India's main umbrella group of evangelical churches has been killed by suspected Hindu hardliners in the volatile state of Orissa, local Christians confirmed to BosNewsLife, Friday December 16.
Rabindra Kumar Parichha of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) was reportedly killed late Thursday, December 15, in the town of Bhanjanagar in Orissa's Ganjam District.
Christians said Parichha was found with his throat cut and there were signs he had been shot in his stomach.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the killing, but missionary Markose K J, of the Catholic 'Montfort Missionaries' order, told BosNewsLife that the killing came amid threats by Hindu hardliners.
Manoj Pradhan, an Orissa legislator and leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), and followers were seen moving into several villages. They allegedly threatened to kill all Christian leaders in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where over 100 people died in anti-Christian violence since August 2008.
FACING PROSECUTION
There was no immediate comment from Pradhan, who has been investigated by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in arson and murder of local Christians.
Paricha was one of EFI's leading advocates on behalf of Orissa Christians, including survivors of the recent violence.
He previously worked as the head of a council representing indigenous villagers, including of his village Bhaliapada, where he leaves behind a wife and family.
Paricha was the third Christian leader to be killed in Orissa this year. Pastor Saul Pradhan of Banjamaha village was Orissa's first known Christian murdered in 2011, according to rights activists.
Police claimed he died due to "much alcohol and being out in the cold", charges his family denied.
Another pastor, Minoketan Nayak of the village of Midiakia was killed in July, Christians said. Police added at the time he died "because of a bike accident."
His supporters claimed the pastor was killed and accused police and local administration officials of refusing to properly investigate the case as they allegedly supported Hindu militants.
CHRISTMAS FEARS
With Christmas approaching, Christians are "in panic" whether they will be next on the Hindu hardliners' death list, said missionary Markose K J, who is also a social activist.
He said an organization linked to BJP has called for a Hindu 'Bandh', a form of Hindu protests, around Christmas from December 23 through December 27. "Memories of the horror during Christmas of 2007 are still fresh in the minds of Christians of Kandhamal" said Markose K J, referring to violence in which at least 9 Christians died.
There have also been massive Hindu rallies with hate speeches in July this year, he added.
Christians comprise just over 2 percent of India's over 1 billion people, who are mainly Hindu.
However there has been growing concern among Hindu nationalist groups about the spread of Christianity, including among Dalits, viewed as the lowest caste in India's ancient system of Hinduism.
MORE ATTACKS
There have been attacks across India against Christians, although Orissa became known for its particular violence against the minority.
Among other cases making headlines was the killing in 2009 of Australian missionary Graham Steines, 58, and his sons Philip, 9, and Timothy, 7. They were sleeping in their station wagon in Manoharpur village when they were attacked by a mob of Hindu extremists and burned alive inside their vehicle.
Staines had spent over 30 years working with leprosy sufferers in India.
His widow, Gladys Staines, said in recent interviews that she had forgiven the killers and that Christ was her companion.
"I feel sad that I do not have my husband to support me, to guard me,” she said, adding that "these are just momentary emotions" of sadness. "[I have] the hope of heaven and of being reunited with my husband and children in paradise and seeing the Father face to face. This guarantee fills me with consolation.” (With additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos).
By BosNewsLife Asia Correspondent Santosh Digal reporting from India
Rabindra Kumar Parichha of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) was reportedly killed late Thursday, December 15, in the town of Bhanjanagar in Orissa's Ganjam District.
Christians said Parichha was found with his throat cut and there were signs he had been shot in his stomach.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the killing, but missionary Markose K J, of the Catholic 'Montfort Missionaries' order, told BosNewsLife that the killing came amid threats by Hindu hardliners.
Manoj Pradhan, an Orissa legislator and leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), and followers were seen moving into several villages. They allegedly threatened to kill all Christian leaders in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where over 100 people died in anti-Christian violence since August 2008.
FACING PROSECUTION
There was no immediate comment from Pradhan, who has been investigated by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in arson and murder of local Christians.
Paricha was one of EFI's leading advocates on behalf of Orissa Christians, including survivors of the recent violence.
He previously worked as the head of a council representing indigenous villagers, including of his village Bhaliapada, where he leaves behind a wife and family.
Paricha was the third Christian leader to be killed in Orissa this year. Pastor Saul Pradhan of Banjamaha village was Orissa's first known Christian murdered in 2011, according to rights activists.
Police claimed he died due to "much alcohol and being out in the cold", charges his family denied.
Another pastor, Minoketan Nayak of the village of Midiakia was killed in July, Christians said. Police added at the time he died "because of a bike accident."
His supporters claimed the pastor was killed and accused police and local administration officials of refusing to properly investigate the case as they allegedly supported Hindu militants.
CHRISTMAS FEARS
With Christmas approaching, Christians are "in panic" whether they will be next on the Hindu hardliners' death list, said missionary Markose K J, who is also a social activist.
He said an organization linked to BJP has called for a Hindu 'Bandh', a form of Hindu protests, around Christmas from December 23 through December 27. "Memories of the horror during Christmas of 2007 are still fresh in the minds of Christians of Kandhamal" said Markose K J, referring to violence in which at least 9 Christians died.
There have also been massive Hindu rallies with hate speeches in July this year, he added.
Christians comprise just over 2 percent of India's over 1 billion people, who are mainly Hindu.
However there has been growing concern among Hindu nationalist groups about the spread of Christianity, including among Dalits, viewed as the lowest caste in India's ancient system of Hinduism.
MORE ATTACKS
There have been attacks across India against Christians, although Orissa became known for its particular violence against the minority.
Among other cases making headlines was the killing in 2009 of Australian missionary Graham Steines, 58, and his sons Philip, 9, and Timothy, 7. They were sleeping in their station wagon in Manoharpur village when they were attacked by a mob of Hindu extremists and burned alive inside their vehicle.
Staines had spent over 30 years working with leprosy sufferers in India.
His widow, Gladys Staines, said in recent interviews that she had forgiven the killers and that Christ was her companion.
"I feel sad that I do not have my husband to support me, to guard me,” she said, adding that "these are just momentary emotions" of sadness. "[I have] the hope of heaven and of being reunited with my husband and children in paradise and seeing the Father face to face. This guarantee fills me with consolation.” (With additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos).
By BosNewsLife Asia Correspondent Santosh Digal reporting from India
Christian woman killed during attempted rape in Pakistan (AsiaNews)
(AsiaNews) 06 December 2011 - 28 year old Muslim Arif Gujjar is under police custody for questioning for the murder of 18 year old Christian Amariah Masih shot to death Nov. 27. The girl was originally from the village of Tehsil Samundari, about 40 km from Faisalabad (Punjab), and was murdered because she resisted an attempted rape. Arif Gujjar is a "young drifter and drug addict," the son of a wealthy landowner in the area named Shafi Gujjar. The girl's father calls for justice, while the Muslim community gathers around the family overwhelmed by grief.Razia Bibi, 50, mother of Amariah, tells AsiaNews that she and her daughter were on their way to the channel to collect drinking water, which is not available in the village. At first Arif Gujjar, in the company of a friend whose identity is still unknown, took possession the motorbike on which they were travelling, then grabbed the girl and, under the threat of a gun, trying to drag her away. The young Christian resisted, trying to escape the clutches of her attacker. The man opened fire and killed her instantly, and later tried to conceal the corpse.
The body was found by her father, Mansha Masih, 53, a father of five daughters and two sons. He denounced the suspect, who was near the area where he had tried to hides the corpse and erase the traces of the murder. The police was immediately put on the trail of Arif, stopping him shortly after. The girl's father thanked the police, who "have worked hard" to arrest the culprit.
At the end of the 18 year old Christian’s funeral, added her father (pictured), a Muslim delegation met with the family, to express solidarity and bring harmony and peace within the community. Mansha Masih, however, urged that justice is done and ensures that he "will fight to get it" because "they are the victim of a cruel act." Her funeral was celebrated by Father Zafal Iqbal, a native of Khushpur, who explains to AsiaNews: "wealthy and influential landowners often take aim at those who are marginalized and vulnerable, for their dirty interests."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(AsiaNews) Faisalabad, 18 year old Christian woman killed during an attempted rape
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Faisalabad,-18-year-old-Christian-woman-killed-during-an-attempted-rape-23336.html
2 Christians killed as thousands of Muslims attack Egyptian village (AINA)
(AssyrianInternationalNewsAgency) 01 December 2011 - Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.The events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Mr. Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house. This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property. "Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.
In the altercation between the neighbors, Mr. Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital.
Angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home (video of the murdered Copts. WARNING: contains highly graphic content).
Three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care. They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.
After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses.
Despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.
"This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness.
"Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property,", said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind. "We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."
He added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are 500 Muslims for every one policeman.
Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.
Christian inhabitants are still afraid to venture into the streets.
Father Lucas Aghapios, pastor of St. George's Church in alGhorayzat, described the situation in the village today as "cautioned" peace. He said that although the Muslim attack started at 11 AM, security forces turned up late in the evening, and Muslim transgressions occurred in the presence of the security forces. Father Lucas said that yesterday Muslim attacks resulted in 25 incidents of looting and torching of Christian-owned shops, in addition to 8 homes. He confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the events, but could not confirm that John Hosni had surrendered to the police. "Yesterday John Hosni was in a safe place, but he is not in the village, I do not know his whereabouts." He does not know whether any Muslims were arrested in connection with the slaughtering of the two Coptic brothers.
A funeral for Abdel-Nazeer was held on Tuesday.
Bishop Bachoum of Sohag said this evening on CTV Coptic Channel that funerals for the two Copts were held in Sohag and they were buried in their village of elGhorayzat, under heavy security. He said that efforts are under way for a "reconciliation" meeting between Muslim and Christians elders.
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(AssyrianInternationalNewsAgency) Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched
http://www.aina.org/news/20111130113351.htm
Article by Mary Abdelmassih
45 Christians killed in Nigeria (CompassDirectNews)
(CDN) 29 November 2011 - Fulani Muslim herdsmen along with Muslim soldiers have killed at least 45 ethnic Berom Christians in Plateau state in the past week, Christians in this northern-central Nigerian town said.
Smaller attacks beginning on Nov. 20, reportedly over allegations by Fulani Muslims of cattle theft, preceded an attack on a Barkin Ladi church on Nov. 23 that killed four Christians, and an assault the next day left 35 Christians dead in Barkin Ladi and nearby Kwok village, according to area Christian leaders.
Church attendance was decimated yesterday as thousands of Christians have left the area.
“Christians are fleeing the town because we have no guns to fight back,” said one woman in a group of six Christians trying to leave Barkin Ladi. “Muslims have guns, and they have their soldiers fighting for them, so we have no choice but to leave town.”Almost all churches in the town cancelled or held reduced worship services on the first Sunday (Nov. 27) after the crisis was contained, as nearly all area Christians have fled to Jos or have left Plateau state, long hit by ethnic property conflicts fueled by anti-Christian sentiment. In March 2010 ethnic Berom Christians, who live as farmers, suffered attacks from Fulani nomads who graze their cattle on the Beroms’ land, resulting in hundreds of deaths in three villages near Jos. In the attack on Thursday (Nov. 24), the Fulani Muslims were shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is greater],” said farmer Choji Pamjamo, 51.
“On Thursday at about 9 a.m., the Muslims’ call to prayer was made at the Izala [Islamic sect] mosque,” Pamjamo said. “And shortly after that, we saw hundreds of armed Muslims invading the town from all directions, attacking and killing Christians. They were shouting ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,’ as they were burning properties belonging to Christians.”Pamjamo confirmed Christian leaders’ account of an attack on a Church of Christ of Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in the Sabon Layi (Rantya) area of Barkin Ladi the previous night (Nov. 23), saying that among the four Christians killed was Bible teacher Yakubu Pam.
David Gyang, 51, an elder at the COCIN Barkin Ladi church, said Muslims set off a religious crisis by attacking Christians at the church site on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) and then launching a major offensive the next morning.
“Some of the Christian victims in this attack that I know include a Christian police officer, one Mr. Bulus, who is the station officer of the Barkin Ladi police station,” Gyang said. “He was inside his house on that day, and these Muslims broke the walls of his room and went inside to kill him and his son. A second Christian victim is Solomon Pam. He was attacked and had his hand broken.”
Gyang lamented that Muslim soldiers brought to town to restore order joined their fellow Muslims in killing and maiming Christians. “Muslims soldiers took sides with their fellow Muslims and were shooting and killing Christians,” he said. “They also had soldiers guarding mosques in the town, but none was sent to watch over our churches, and that is the reason Muslims were able to burn the Baptist church in the town.”
The COCIN church in Barkin Ladi had an average Sunday service attendance of about 1,200 people, but yesterday only 50 showed up, he said.“We could not go on with the worship but held a prayer meeting, and then our pastor left to Kwok village for the burial of the 26 killed there,” he said.
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(CompassDirectNews) At least 45 killed in plateau state, Nigeria
http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/nigeria/article_123658.html
Boko Haram kills children of converted terrorist (BosNewsLife)
(BosNewsLife) 28 November 2011 - A militant group seeking to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, throughout Nigeria, has shot and killed two children of an ex-terrorist and "murderer" because he converted to Christianity, well-informed missionaries told BosNewsLife Wednesday, November 23.Boko Haram, meaning “Western education is a sin”, carried out the killings this month after discovering that a former fellow fighter refused to kill a Christian and instead accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, explained Rae Burnett, Africa Director of the U.S. based Christian Aid Mission (CAM) group.
Burnett told BosNewsLife that the father and Boko Haram militant "was poised to slit the throat of his Christian victim" during November attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least over 130 Christians, including missionaries, when "he was suddenly struck with the weight of the evil he was about to commit."
Dropping his machete, the man ran to the nearest church, asking a pastor for help, Burnett said.
INDIGENOUS MINISTRY
The pastor referred him to a CAM-supported indigenous ministry, where "native missionaries are reaching remote villages with the message of Christ," she added.
"When the call came, the ministry leader was grieving the loss of several close missionary friends who were murdered in the Yobe State slaughter. He immediately met with the confessed killer and joyfully led him to Christ. He is discipling him in a secret location because of the extreme danger."
Burnett declined to identify the former Muslim militant and missionaries, citing security concerns.
"After meeting the Lord, the converted terrorist [and] murderer called his former colleagues to testify what had happened to him without disclosing where he was," she said.
CHILDREN KIDNAPPED
However, "Upon discovering the man's conversion to Christianity, Boko Haram members invaded his home, kidnapped his two children and informed him that they were going to execute them in retribution for his disloyalty to Islam. Clutching his phone, the man heard the sound of the guns that murdered his children," the CAM official added.
There was no known published comment about the specific attack by Boko Haram, but the reported murders were part of what President leader Goodluck Jonathan called "heinous violence" which began November 4 mainly in and around Damaturu, the capital of Nigeria's northern Yobe state.
Christian missionaries said that during the attacks Muslim "extremists" of Boko Haram also demanded that Christians recite the Islamic creed. Those who refused, were reportedly butchered on the spot.
Additionally, "among the "devastation and destruction left in the wake of Boko Haram's violence were 10 church buildings set aflame while Christians remained trapped inside," added Burnett, who has close knowledge about the situation.
Though "severely traumatized," the former Boko Haram fighter who lost his children "is growing in the knowledge of Christ through the loving care he is receiving from his brothers and sisters in the ministry that is sheltering and training him," she said. "He knows he is called to become a missionary to Nigerian Muslims."
CONVERSION WELCOMED
It was not immediately clear whether he would hand himself over to authorities for possible wrongdoing in the past, but Burnett made clear his conversion came as a boost for an "indigenous missionary ministry" which "has been working tirelessly to take the Gospel to Nigeria's unreached Islamic northern states."
Areas where CAM missionaries work are dominated by Muslim Hausa and Fulani tribes, many of whom are reportedly illiterate and remotely located.
"Millions have never even heard that Jesus died [and rose up from the death] for them," Burnett said.
She claimed that despite "the extreme difficulties involved in reaching Muslims with the Gospel" several former Muslims "have made a commitment to follow Christ."
Burnett said several ex-Muslims facing "the danger of persecution or death from the Islamic community and even family members," are brought to "a safe location while they are discipled and trained in the Word of God."
GOVERNMENT PRESSURED
The government of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has come under international pressure to improve protection of minority Christians in northern areas.
Nigeria's over 160 million people are divided almost in half between Muslims living mainly in the north and Christians in the south, according to several estimates. President Jonathan has pledged to send extra troops to areas of sectarian friction, but Burnett said he faces an uphill battle.
The Boko Haram's "goal is to force Sharia law throughout Nigeria" targeting "secular education by bombing schools and universities, " the CAM director said. She added that while attacks are often prompted by local issues, they also aim at "anything that is perceived to be foreign influence."
Burnett recalled a recent attack against the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria, which killed 23 people. However even hundreds of Muslims have been killed as "fanatics carry out near daily attacks in the remote northeast of Borno state, where Nigeria borders Cameroon, Niger and Chad," she stressed.
Embassies and hotels have reportedly increased security and are on high alert amid concerns the attacks will increase and further spread in the African nation.
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(BosNewsLife) Nigeria Militants Kill Children Of Christian Convert, Missionaries Say
http://www.bosnewslife.com/19199-news-alert-nigeria-militants-kill-children-of-christian-convert
Article by Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
Pastor murdered in Pakistan (Fides)
(Fides) 18 Nov 2011 - The Protestant Pastor Jameel Sawan was killed yesterday with three gunshot in Karachi: this is what Paul Bhatti confirms to Fides, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for religious Minoritt Affairs and Chairman of the APMA (" All Pakistan Minorites Alliance "), the largest organization of religious minorities in Pakistan.According to what Bhatti refers to Fides, "the murder may be motivated by religious hatred, but there is also the track of a personal vendetta, due to private matters. In any case it is an appalling and brutal murder. The government and the police have taken appropriate action. We appeal to everyone to keep calm and not to fuel hatred and intolerance".
According to sources of the APMA, Khokhar and the Pastor had previously received threats on behalf of radical Islamic groups, and had also alerted the police. The APMA in Sindh has reported the case to the political authorities and wrote a letter to the governor, asking for the protection for religious minorities.
"Sindh is a province where such cases are sporadic and there is less pressure on minorities, compared to Punjab," underlines Bhatti to Fides. "But after the recent killing of four Hindus doctors and the latter tragic case, attention must be strengthened, because these episodes intend to create a rift between the religious communities, we instead want them to come closer in order to create harmony in society"
Two Christians killed in Kenya church attack (AFP)
(AFP) 07 Nov 2011 - Two people were killed in a grenade attack on a church in a town in eastern Kenya, police said Sunday, amid a spate of violence that has raised concerns for the country's key tourism industry.
The attackers threw a grenade at a house inside a compound of the East African Pentecostal Church in Garissa late Saturday, killing two people living inside, locals said. Up to four others were injured in the attack.
"They attacked people who reside in the church compound," said a worshipper. "Two people died and the others have been taken to hospital."
National police deputy spokesman Charles Owino confirmed that two people had been killed and said a partially exploded landmine found elsewhere in town had been taken away by anti-terrorism police.
Asked who was responsible for the attacks, Owino noted that Garissa is a predominantly Muslim town and that the target was a church.
"It could be (religious) rivalry. It could be Al Shebab sympathisers, you can't rule it out. Anything is possible," he told AFP.
Kenya in mid-October sent troops into neighbouring south Somalia to fight the Shebab Islamists it accuses of being behind a spate of kidnappings and cross-border attacks. The Shebab deny imvolvement.
Owino said attacks of this sort will not weaken Kenya's resolve to wipe out the Shebab.
"We will solve the problem of Al Shebab once and for all. We will keep tracking them until we are able to hand over Somalia as a safer place to its law-abiding citizens," he said.
Later Sunday in Mandera in the extreme northeast on the Somali border soldiers in a military vehicle narrowly escaped when a roadside bomb exploded as it passed by. "A remote-controlled explosive device was activated just after a military vehicle went by," a local security official said, asking not to be named.
He said the vehicle was not damaged but a small boy at the side of the road was injured.
Mandera is some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) north east of Nairobi and around 700 kilometres north of Garissa.
Garissa is around 70 kilometres from the Dadaab camp for refugees from Somalia's civil war where a police truck escorting a UN convoy struck a landmine on Saturday. The device did not detonate.
"People are not venturing out to pray for the (Muslim feast of) Eid al-Adha as there are too many security personnel moving around," a local journalist said, adding that security personnel have been searching the town for explosives for the past week.
Banditry is commonplace in the region but landmines are rare.
Dadaab, about 80 kilometres from the Somali border, was opened more than 20 years ago but its population has swollen to close to half a million refugees this year because of famine in Somalia.
The spate of attacks, including one on Swiss tourists on Friday, could deal a blow to Kenya's tourism industry which has only just recovered from the impact of post-election violence in 2008.
Nairobi blames the Shebab for a recent spate of kidnappings of foreigners from areas of Kenya close to the Somali border.
In September gunmen seized British tourists Judith and David Tebbutt, both in their fifties, who were holidaying north of the idyllic Lamu archipelago.
David Tebbutt was shot dead while his wife was captured. She is believed to have been sold to pirates in central Somalia.
On October 1 gunmen snatched disabled French woman Marie Dedieu from her home on the Lamu archipelago. She later died in captivity, French officials said.
On October 13, two Spanish aid workers were seized by gunmen in broad daylight from the Dadaab refugee camp.
All four kidnappings have been linked to Shebab Islamists. Kenyan police have also blamed the Shebab for two grenade attacks -- one on a bar and one at a bus stop -- in the capital.
Christian boy killed by classmates in Egypt (ANS)
(ANS) 01 Nov 2011 - In mid-October Egyptian media published news of an altercation between Muslim and Christian students over a classroom seat at a school in Mallawi, Minya province.
Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- Assyrian International News Agency --www.aina.org , says the altercation lead to the murder of a Christian student.
AINA says the media portrayed the incident as non-sectarian. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic news website, refuted this version and was first to report that the Christian student was murdered because he was wearing a crucifix.
"We wanted to believe the official version," said activist Mark Ebeid, "because the Coptic version was a catastrophe, as it would take persecution of Christians also to schools." He blamed the church in Mallawi for keeping quiet about the incident.
AINA say that yesterday (Oct.30) the parents of the 17-year-old Christian student, Ayman Nabil Labib, broke their silence, confirming that their son was murdered on October 16, in "cold blood because he refused to take off his crucifix as ordered by his Muslim teacher."
AINA reports that Nabil Labib, the father, said in a taped video interview with Copts United NGO, that his son had a cross tattooed on his wrist as per Coptic tradition, as well as another cross which he wore under his clothes.
In its report, AINA says both parents confirmed that Ayman's classmates, who were present during the assault and whom they met at the hospital and during the funeral, said that while Ayman was in the classroom he was told to cover up his tattooed wrist cross. He refused and defiantly got out the second cross which he wore under his shirt.
"The teacher nearly choked my son and some Muslim students joined in the beating," said his mother.
According to Ayman's father, eyewitnesses told him that his son was not beaten up in the school yard as per the official story, but in the classroom.
"They beat my son so much in the classroom that he fled to the lavatory on the ground floor, but they followed him and continued their assault. When one of the supervisors took him to his room, Ayman was still breathing. The ambulance transported him from there dead, one hour later," he said.
Prosecution authorities arrested and detained two Muslim students, Mostapha Essam and Walid Mostafa Sayed, pending investigations in the murder case, AINA reported.
The father said that everyone in Mallawi knew how the event took place, but not one of the students' parents was prepared to let their children come forward and give a statement to the police.
"They are afraid of the school administration, which has lots of ways to harass the students, as well as being afraid of the families of the two Muslim killers," he said.
"I insist that the Arabic teacher, the headmaster, and the supervisors should be charged as well as the two students who committed the crime," said Nabil, adding: "The Arabic language teacher incited the students to attack my son, the headmaster who would not go to the classroom to see what is going on there when alerted to the beatings, but rather said to be left alone and continued sipping his tea, and the supervisors who failed in their supervising duties."
AINA said the prosecution has three witnesses, two men working at the school who named the assailants, and one student who wanted to retract his statement, but was refused.
"The evidence is under lock and key. Everyone is hiding the evidence. We will know the truth after forensic medicine has finished the report next week," said Nabil, adding that the head of detectives on the case tried to influence the witnesses, claiming that the murder took place as a result of friction between students.
The governor of Minya, El-Rouby, visited the Coptic Bishop Dimitrious of Mallawi to extend his condolences, accompanied by representatives of Minya military authorities. He also suspended the school's headmaster and the two supervisors, as well as two social workers who were on duty when Ayman died, and referred them to an investigation committee. But all of them have since disappeared.
After the funeral service for Ayman, more than 5,000 Christians marched along the streets of Mallawi, denouncing the killing of a student whom they described as "Martyr of the Cross," and the repeated killings of Copts in Egypt.
Accoridng to the AINA report, prominent columnist Farida El-Shobashy wrote in independent newspaper Masry Youm: "I was shaken to the bones when I read the news that a teacher forced a student to take off the crucifix he wore, and when the Christian student stood firm for his rights, the teacher quarreled with him, joined by some of the students; he was beastly assaulted until his last breath left him." She wondered if the situation was reversed and a Muslim was killed for not removing the Koran he wore, what would have been the reaction.
Farida also pointed out that the gravity of the incident is where it took place and who incited the attack (the teacher). She went on to blast the Ministry of Education for neglecting the education syllabus to prevent discriminatory contents, but instead "left it to teachers to spread the fanatic Wahabi ideology."
Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- Assyrian International News Agency --www.aina.org , says the altercation lead to the murder of a Christian student.
AINA says the media portrayed the incident as non-sectarian. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic news website, refuted this version and was first to report that the Christian student was murdered because he was wearing a crucifix.
"We wanted to believe the official version," said activist Mark Ebeid, "because the Coptic version was a catastrophe, as it would take persecution of Christians also to schools." He blamed the church in Mallawi for keeping quiet about the incident.
AINA say that yesterday (Oct.30) the parents of the 17-year-old Christian student, Ayman Nabil Labib, broke their silence, confirming that their son was murdered on October 16, in "cold blood because he refused to take off his crucifix as ordered by his Muslim teacher."
AINA reports that Nabil Labib, the father, said in a taped video interview with Copts United NGO, that his son had a cross tattooed on his wrist as per Coptic tradition, as well as another cross which he wore under his clothes.
In its report, AINA says both parents confirmed that Ayman's classmates, who were present during the assault and whom they met at the hospital and during the funeral, said that while Ayman was in the classroom he was told to cover up his tattooed wrist cross. He refused and defiantly got out the second cross which he wore under his shirt.
"The teacher nearly choked my son and some Muslim students joined in the beating," said his mother.
According to Ayman's father, eyewitnesses told him that his son was not beaten up in the school yard as per the official story, but in the classroom.
"They beat my son so much in the classroom that he fled to the lavatory on the ground floor, but they followed him and continued their assault. When one of the supervisors took him to his room, Ayman was still breathing. The ambulance transported him from there dead, one hour later," he said.
Prosecution authorities arrested and detained two Muslim students, Mostapha Essam and Walid Mostafa Sayed, pending investigations in the murder case, AINA reported.
The father said that everyone in Mallawi knew how the event took place, but not one of the students' parents was prepared to let their children come forward and give a statement to the police.
"They are afraid of the school administration, which has lots of ways to harass the students, as well as being afraid of the families of the two Muslim killers," he said.
"I insist that the Arabic teacher, the headmaster, and the supervisors should be charged as well as the two students who committed the crime," said Nabil, adding: "The Arabic language teacher incited the students to attack my son, the headmaster who would not go to the classroom to see what is going on there when alerted to the beatings, but rather said to be left alone and continued sipping his tea, and the supervisors who failed in their supervising duties."
AINA said the prosecution has three witnesses, two men working at the school who named the assailants, and one student who wanted to retract his statement, but was refused.
"The evidence is under lock and key. Everyone is hiding the evidence. We will know the truth after forensic medicine has finished the report next week," said Nabil, adding that the head of detectives on the case tried to influence the witnesses, claiming that the murder took place as a result of friction between students.
The governor of Minya, El-Rouby, visited the Coptic Bishop Dimitrious of Mallawi to extend his condolences, accompanied by representatives of Minya military authorities. He also suspended the school's headmaster and the two supervisors, as well as two social workers who were on duty when Ayman died, and referred them to an investigation committee. But all of them have since disappeared.
After the funeral service for Ayman, more than 5,000 Christians marched along the streets of Mallawi, denouncing the killing of a student whom they described as "Martyr of the Cross," and the repeated killings of Copts in Egypt.
Accoridng to the AINA report, prominent columnist Farida El-Shobashy wrote in independent newspaper Masry Youm: "I was shaken to the bones when I read the news that a teacher forced a student to take off the crucifix he wore, and when the Christian student stood firm for his rights, the teacher quarreled with him, joined by some of the students; he was beastly assaulted until his last breath left him." She wondered if the situation was reversed and a Muslim was killed for not removing the Koran he wore, what would have been the reaction.
Farida also pointed out that the gravity of the incident is where it took place and who incited the attack (the teacher). She went on to blast the Ministry of Education for neglecting the education syllabus to prevent discriminatory contents, but instead "left it to teachers to spread the fanatic Wahabi ideology."
3 Christians die in Eritrean military camps (MissionNetworkNews)
(MissionNetworkNews) 27 Oct 2011 - After being denied even the most basic of needs, three Christians died in Eritrean military camps over the last few weeks.Open Doors, USA received word of two Christian women who have died during the course of the last week in the Adersete Military Camp in western Eritrea. According to a reliable source, Terhase Gebremichel Andu, age 28, and Ferewine Genzabu Kifly, age 21, were detained in a secret dungeon-like confinement intended for religious prisoners.
Andu and Kifly, both employees of a wholesale store, were arrested during a prayer meeting in 2009 at a private home in Tesenai. They faced two years of physical military torture, were denied medical care, and ultimately died as a result of starvation and poor health.
Andu died on October 16 one week ahead of Kifly.
Within weeks of these deaths, another believer, Angesom Teklom Habtemichel, age 26, also died in an Eritrean military camp. Habtemichel served two years in Adi Nefase Military Camp, Asab. He contracted severe malaria but was denied medical treatment because of his written refusal to recant his Christian faith. He died after one week of sickness.
Countless believers remain in prisons across Eritrea for their faith, enduring untold suffering. Pray for their courage to continue preaching the Good News even in the pit of suffering. Pray for protection for "free" believers who continue to share the Truth.
Eritrea has a long history of severely mistreating Christians, particularly while in detention. The country's reputation has earned a spot as the World Watch List's 12th worst nation for Christian persecution.
Guled Jama Muktar murdered in Somalia (Compass)
(CDN) 20 Oct 2011 - Militants from the Islamic extremist al Shabaab beheaded a 17-year-old Somali Christian near Mogadishu last month, a journalist in the Somali capital told Compass.The militants, who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, killed Guled Jama Muktar on Sept. 25 in his home near Deynile, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mogadishu. The Islamic extremist group had been monitoring his family since the Christians arrived in Somalia from Kenya in 2008, said the source in Mogadishu, who requested anonymity. The Islamic militants, who are fighting the transitional government for control of the country, knew from their observations of the family that they were Christians, the source said. “I personally know this family as Christians who used to have secret Bible meetings in their house,” he said.Based on talks with the boy’s parents and their neighbors, the source said al Shabaab members arrived at Muktar’s home at 6 a.m., when his parents, whose names are withheld for security reasons, were already at work at their retail space at the Hamarweyne market on the outskirts of Mogadishu.
The extremists found Muktar as he was preparing to go to school, he said.“The neighbors heard screaming coming from the house, and then it immediately stopped,” the source said. “After awhile, they saw a white car leaving the homestead.” The neighbors informed the parents, who hurriedly returned home from their market stall. They buried their son’s body quickly, fearing the militants would kill them as well, returned to their market space and then fled to an unknown destination, the source said. “When the incident happened, the parents called to tell me that their son had been killed and that they feared for their lives,” the source said. “Since then, I have not heard from them.”
On the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region in southwestern Somalia, a kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on Sept. 2. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda, control the area some 400 kilometers (249 miles) from Mogadishu.
A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said it bore the marks of an al Shabaab killing, according to a leader in Somalia’s underground church who lives in another city.“It is usual for the al Shabaab to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or sympathizers of western ideals,” the leader said. With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.
Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.
In the Lower Shabele region of Somalia earlier this year, two Muslim extremists murdered a member of a secret Christian community, sources said. An area source told Compass two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house on April 18.In Warbhigly village on the outskirts of Mogadishu, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on Jan. 7 by Islamic extremists from al Shabaab, a relative said. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.
Following the Oct. 13 kidnapping of two Spanish aid workers from a refugee camp in Dadaab, on the Kenyan border with Somalia, and the kidnapping and murder of foreigners at tourist sites, Kenya on Sunday (Oct. 16) began air strikes on al Shabaab territory in southern Somalia. Kenya Television reported yesterday that Kenyan armed forces had killed more than 100 al Shabaab militants in Kismayo in southern Somalia.
Fr. Tausto Tentorio murdered in Philippines (AsiaNews)
(AsiaNews) 20 Oct 2011 -
Zamboanga (AsiaNews) - A missionary from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) was killed this morning on the island of Mindanao (Philippines).
Fr. Fausto Tentorio, 59, who had spent more than 32 years in the Philippines, was killed this morning by a stranger, as he prepared to leave the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Arakan, North Cotabato. Like every Monday, had a meeting with the priests of the diocese in the bishop's house. The murderer approached him and killed him with two shots to the head. The author and motive for the killing are still unknown. According to witnesses, he was wearing a helmet and his face could not be seen. After the murder, the killer escaped to safety on a motorcycle.
Fr. Tentorio had worked for some time among the tribal groups of the diocese, living with them. His evangelization also included his commitment to ensure the survival and rights of these populations, often marginalized and robbed of the land.
Leonardo Revoca, a former parishioner of Fr Tentorio and town councilor in Arakan stressed the missionary efforts to stop the spread of the mining industry, which is destroying the lives of indigenous peoples.
PIME superior in the Philippines, Fr. Gianni Re, has declined to make any statement for now. He has simply said: "I am deeply saddened. Fr. Fausto was one of my closest friends. "
Fr. Tentorio, born in St. Mary Rovagnate (Lecco), had entered the PIME seminary of the diocese of Milan. His fellow students remember him as a simple and friendly person.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio is the third PIME missionary to be killed in the Philippines and the island of Mindanao. In 1985, Fr. Tullio Favali was killed in Tulunan, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, by a group of private armed guards, in 1992, Fr Salvatore. Carzedda, engaged in dialogue with Muslims, was killed in Zamboanga. In 2007, Fr. Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped by a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but was released after two months of captivity. In 1998 Fr. Luciano Benedetti was also kidnapped. His abductors, a Muslim group, released him after about 2 months.
Zamboanga (AsiaNews) - A missionary from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) was killed this morning on the island of Mindanao (Philippines).Fr. Fausto Tentorio, 59, who had spent more than 32 years in the Philippines, was killed this morning by a stranger, as he prepared to leave the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Arakan, North Cotabato. Like every Monday, had a meeting with the priests of the diocese in the bishop's house. The murderer approached him and killed him with two shots to the head. The author and motive for the killing are still unknown. According to witnesses, he was wearing a helmet and his face could not be seen. After the murder, the killer escaped to safety on a motorcycle.
Fr. Tentorio had worked for some time among the tribal groups of the diocese, living with them. His evangelization also included his commitment to ensure the survival and rights of these populations, often marginalized and robbed of the land.
Leonardo Revoca, a former parishioner of Fr Tentorio and town councilor in Arakan stressed the missionary efforts to stop the spread of the mining industry, which is destroying the lives of indigenous peoples.
PIME superior in the Philippines, Fr. Gianni Re, has declined to make any statement for now. He has simply said: "I am deeply saddened. Fr. Fausto was one of my closest friends. "
Fr. Tentorio, born in St. Mary Rovagnate (Lecco), had entered the PIME seminary of the diocese of Milan. His fellow students remember him as a simple and friendly person.
Fr. Fausto Tentorio is the third PIME missionary to be killed in the Philippines and the island of Mindanao. In 1985, Fr. Tullio Favali was killed in Tulunan, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, by a group of private armed guards, in 1992, Fr Salvatore. Carzedda, engaged in dialogue with Muslims, was killed in Zamboanga. In 2007, Fr. Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped by a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but was released after two months of captivity. In 1998 Fr. Luciano Benedetti was also kidnapped. His abductors, a Muslim group, released him after about 2 months.
Boko Haram murders another Christian leader (CDN)
(CND) 18 Oct 2011 - Violence-weary Christians in Borno state have been further upset to learn of the murder of a Nigerian evangelist by Boko Haram less than three months after the Islamic extremist group killed a Maiduguri pastor. CAPRO International Director Amos Aderonmu said Ojunta died “as a martyr on his field among the Kotokos.” CAPRO had learned that all its staff members working among the Shuwa Arab, Kotoko and Kanuri peoples were on a Boko Haram list of people to be killed and had evacuated them, Aderonmu said. Ojunta had returned to teach a class after the evacuation of his family.“Brother Mark took his family out on Friday (Aug. 26), but he went back to the field because he had a class with some believers on Saturday,” Aderonmu reported. “It was in the night that the sect came to where they were staying and knocked at the door, and he tried to escape but could not get away.”
In his statement, Aderonmu said that four days before his death, Ojunta had received an invitation to leave work among the Kotoko people to take a position at CAPRO’s International office in London.“On Wednesday of that week, brother Kola Kehinde, our national coordinator in the U.K., spoke with him about the possibility of him coming to join the U.K. team,” Aderonmu reported. “His response was that he wanted to invest more years into the work among the Kotokos and hand it over to believers before he can consider leaving. What a passion and commitment! Four days later, he was translated into the presence of his Master.”
Aderonmu said that Ojunta was the “first martyr in CAPRO in our 36 years of existence as a ministry.” Ojunta is survived by his wife, Ema, and two children, 3-year-old Kambe and 9-month-old Akira, besides his parents and sisters. He was buried in his home state of Abia, in southern Nigeria, on Sept. 30.The killing came less than three months after the June 7 murder of a Church of Christ in Nigeria pastor and his church secretary in Maiduguri. The Rev. David Usman, 45, and church secretary Hamman Andrew were shot by members of Boko Haram in an area of Maiduguri called the Railway Quarters. The area was the base of Boko Haram until 2009, when Nigerian security agencies and the military demolished its headquarters and captured and killed the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and some of his followers.
Boko Haram leaders have openly declared that they want to establish an Islamic theocratic state in Nigeria, and they reject democratic institutions, which they associate with Christianity. The Jama’atu ahlus Sunnah lid da’awati wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for several church bombings and other attacks. Many Christians have left Maiduguri, and some churches have shut down as many of their members have lost their lives. Compass has witnessed many church buildings shuttered and guarded by soldiers and police in Maiduguri.Calvary Ministries began in April 1975 in the city of Zaria, in the heartland of Nigeria’s Muslim north, through the evangelistic efforts of young Nigerian graduates from various Nigerian universities doing their one-year mandatory national youth service. The ministry now has more than 550 workers in 27 countries of Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according toOperation World.
Christian Pastor/Activist assassinated (LosAngelesTimes)
(LosAngelesTimes) 12 Oct 2011 - 
The 46-year-old, who used the name Patrick Kim, had a discolored complexion, spots on his fingers and limbs, flecks of foam on his mouth. He was dead by the time he reached the hospital.The pastor was a human rights activist who secretly helped people slip out of North Korea into China. And his family and South Korean diplomats believe he was killed by North Korean agents in retaliation. The weapon of choice: most likely a poisoned needle.
"We are assuming there was a murder perpetrated. Although the evidence is circumstantial, it points strongly to North Korea," said Lee Dong-bak, a retired official of the South Korean intelligence service and now an academic in Seoul. "The poison needle has been in use by North Korean special operations for a long time."The accusations come as North Korean state-run media have threatened retaliation against South Korean activists trying to topple Kim Jong Il's regime. The activists, many of them evangelical Christians, not only smuggle out defectors but also send anti-Kim literature and Bibles across the border, sometimes by attaching them to balloons that float across the demilitarized zone between the two nations.Patrick Kim's death, on Aug. 21, was the first of three attacks or plots that South Korean activists or officials believe were carried out by North Korea. A day later in another Chinese city, Yanji, a South Korean involved with missionary work was standing at an intersection when he felt a pinprick in his lower back. As he collapsed, he heard a man muttering behind him in Chinese, "Sorry, sorry." He survived the attack.Then, in mid-September, South Korean intelligence announced that it had arrested a North Korean defector on charges that he had planned a similar attack in Seoul. The target in that case was Park Sung-hak, a human rights activist who has launched balloons into North Korea carrying anti-regime leaflets. The intended weapon again was reportedly a poisoned needle.Wary of further inflaming tensions, the South Korean government has been cautious not to openly accuse North Korea of being behind the attacks. The South's Foreign Ministry said an autopsy on the pastor, conducted in China, did not find any trace of poison.
But a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case said the South Korean government nonetheless believes Kim was probably murdered. The diplomat said South Korean officials recently interviewed the Chinese pathologist who conducted the autopsy and were told that the pathologist was able to screen only for the basics."If there was a special poison or pathogen, he would not be able to detect it," the diplomat said. "Seoul has made its decision about what happened, but perhaps for them to declare publicly what they think could require actions they are not prepared to take."Fellow activists say they have no doubt Kim was murdered. And analysts say the three incidents, coming in rapid succession, point to an increasingly belligerent North Korean security apparatus willing to use any means to silence its critics, perhaps connected to the rise of Kim Jong Eun, youngest son and heir apparent of Kim Jong Il.Young Howard, head of Open Radio for North Korea, which reports from Seoul on the reclusive communist regime, suggests that the attacks were part of an escalation in aggression toward South Korea. He cited a torpedo attack on a South Korean naval ship and the shelling of a South Korean island near disputed waters last year."North Korea has turned very hostile to South Korea, and this is part of the pattern we are seeing," he said. He said Kim Jong Eun may be trying to strengthen his standing with hard-liners in the military and intelligence communities.The attacks send a strong message to Christian activists who are helping North Korean defectors in China. Patrick Kim, whose full Korean name has not been disclosed by his family, had been working surreptitiously with an underground railroad helping North Koreans escape through China.
He was also raising money for his cause in Korean churches in New York and Los Angeles, said activists including Do Hee-yun, head of the Seoul-based Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees.The day of his death, Kim had received a telephone call about 7 p.m. and ran out to meet somebody, according to a family friend who gave a detailed account of the events, on condition his name not be used. At 8:15 p.m., Kim called his wife to ask her to meet him downtown, saying he hadn't brought enough cash for a taxi home. When she arrived, her phone rang again. This time, a man whose voice she didn't recognize said her husband had collapsed and directed her to another location."When she arrived at the place, Pastor Kim already had lapsed into unconsciousness.… Kim's face was getting dark, and from the end of the fingers dark spots spread into the body," the family friend, a South Korean clergyman, said in an email.At the hospital, doctors, nurses and police suggested that Kim had been poisoned, probably with a needle, the friend wrote. After the autopsy could not detect poison, the case was not pursued because an investigation would have meant Chinese police poking around the missionary networks operating within China.
In China, it is illegal to help North Korean defectors or to engage in missionary activities. But the 800-mile stretch of border with the North is crawling with underground churches, many of them funded by South Koreans or Korean Americans. It is also a listening post for intelligence agencies and journalists trying to understand the secretive regime.The man attacked in Yanji, a 59-year-old South Korean academic and evangelical Christian who had been living in China for a decade, also acted as a missionary and helped defectors, according to a businessman from the region who knew him.
He survived after several days in the hospital and has since left China, according to another Korean working in the region. Nobody has been arrested in either attack in China.In South Korea, authorities announced Sept. 15 that they had arrested a North Korean defector on charges of plotting a similar murder. His target was fellow defector Park Sung-hak, head of Fighters for Free North Korea, which floats leaflets, DVDs and U.S. dollar bills into North Korea.Park told the South Korean newspaper Joongang Ilbo that he'd been planning to meet the defector, a man with the surname Ahn whom he had met previously, at a Seoul subway station Sept. 3, but that the National Intelligence Service warned him not to go.Military analyst Park Syung-je said Ahn had a background in the North Korean special forces and gave frequent lectures about North Korea after he defected in 1996.Christian activists say a number of their colleagues have died mysteriously or disappeared, often while working in China.
In one of the most famous cases, in 2000, Kim Dong Shik, a missionary who was a permanent U.S. resident, was grabbed as he was coming out of a restaurant in Yanji, forced into a car and driven to North Korea. His wife, who lives in Skokie, Ill., said he is believed to have died in a North Korean prison.
Reporting from Beijing—
On a Sunday evening in August, a middle-aged South Korean pastor collapsed suddenly near a taxi stand in Dandong, a Chinese city on the Yalu River overlooking North KoreaThe 46-year-old, who used the name Patrick Kim, had a discolored complexion, spots on his fingers and limbs, flecks of foam on his mouth. He was dead by the time he reached the hospital.The pastor was a human rights activist who secretly helped people slip out of North Korea into China. And his family and South Korean diplomats believe he was killed by North Korean agents in retaliation. The weapon of choice: most likely a poisoned needle.
"We are assuming there was a murder perpetrated. Although the evidence is circumstantial, it points strongly to North Korea," said Lee Dong-bak, a retired official of the South Korean intelligence service and now an academic in Seoul. "The poison needle has been in use by North Korean special operations for a long time."The accusations come as North Korean state-run media have threatened retaliation against South Korean activists trying to topple Kim Jong Il's regime. The activists, many of them evangelical Christians, not only smuggle out defectors but also send anti-Kim literature and Bibles across the border, sometimes by attaching them to balloons that float across the demilitarized zone between the two nations.Patrick Kim's death, on Aug. 21, was the first of three attacks or plots that South Korean activists or officials believe were carried out by North Korea. A day later in another Chinese city, Yanji, a South Korean involved with missionary work was standing at an intersection when he felt a pinprick in his lower back. As he collapsed, he heard a man muttering behind him in Chinese, "Sorry, sorry." He survived the attack.Then, in mid-September, South Korean intelligence announced that it had arrested a North Korean defector on charges that he had planned a similar attack in Seoul. The target in that case was Park Sung-hak, a human rights activist who has launched balloons into North Korea carrying anti-regime leaflets. The intended weapon again was reportedly a poisoned needle.Wary of further inflaming tensions, the South Korean government has been cautious not to openly accuse North Korea of being behind the attacks. The South's Foreign Ministry said an autopsy on the pastor, conducted in China, did not find any trace of poison.
But a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case said the South Korean government nonetheless believes Kim was probably murdered. The diplomat said South Korean officials recently interviewed the Chinese pathologist who conducted the autopsy and were told that the pathologist was able to screen only for the basics."If there was a special poison or pathogen, he would not be able to detect it," the diplomat said. "Seoul has made its decision about what happened, but perhaps for them to declare publicly what they think could require actions they are not prepared to take."Fellow activists say they have no doubt Kim was murdered. And analysts say the three incidents, coming in rapid succession, point to an increasingly belligerent North Korean security apparatus willing to use any means to silence its critics, perhaps connected to the rise of Kim Jong Eun, youngest son and heir apparent of Kim Jong Il.Young Howard, head of Open Radio for North Korea, which reports from Seoul on the reclusive communist regime, suggests that the attacks were part of an escalation in aggression toward South Korea. He cited a torpedo attack on a South Korean naval ship and the shelling of a South Korean island near disputed waters last year."North Korea has turned very hostile to South Korea, and this is part of the pattern we are seeing," he said. He said Kim Jong Eun may be trying to strengthen his standing with hard-liners in the military and intelligence communities.The attacks send a strong message to Christian activists who are helping North Korean defectors in China. Patrick Kim, whose full Korean name has not been disclosed by his family, had been working surreptitiously with an underground railroad helping North Koreans escape through China.
He was also raising money for his cause in Korean churches in New York and Los Angeles, said activists including Do Hee-yun, head of the Seoul-based Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees.The day of his death, Kim had received a telephone call about 7 p.m. and ran out to meet somebody, according to a family friend who gave a detailed account of the events, on condition his name not be used. At 8:15 p.m., Kim called his wife to ask her to meet him downtown, saying he hadn't brought enough cash for a taxi home. When she arrived, her phone rang again. This time, a man whose voice she didn't recognize said her husband had collapsed and directed her to another location."When she arrived at the place, Pastor Kim already had lapsed into unconsciousness.… Kim's face was getting dark, and from the end of the fingers dark spots spread into the body," the family friend, a South Korean clergyman, said in an email.At the hospital, doctors, nurses and police suggested that Kim had been poisoned, probably with a needle, the friend wrote. After the autopsy could not detect poison, the case was not pursued because an investigation would have meant Chinese police poking around the missionary networks operating within China.
In China, it is illegal to help North Korean defectors or to engage in missionary activities. But the 800-mile stretch of border with the North is crawling with underground churches, many of them funded by South Koreans or Korean Americans. It is also a listening post for intelligence agencies and journalists trying to understand the secretive regime.The man attacked in Yanji, a 59-year-old South Korean academic and evangelical Christian who had been living in China for a decade, also acted as a missionary and helped defectors, according to a businessman from the region who knew him.
He survived after several days in the hospital and has since left China, according to another Korean working in the region. Nobody has been arrested in either attack in China.In South Korea, authorities announced Sept. 15 that they had arrested a North Korean defector on charges of plotting a similar murder. His target was fellow defector Park Sung-hak, head of Fighters for Free North Korea, which floats leaflets, DVDs and U.S. dollar bills into North Korea.Park told the South Korean newspaper Joongang Ilbo that he'd been planning to meet the defector, a man with the surname Ahn whom he had met previously, at a Seoul subway station Sept. 3, but that the National Intelligence Service warned him not to go.Military analyst Park Syung-je said Ahn had a background in the North Korean special forces and gave frequent lectures about North Korea after he defected in 1996.Christian activists say a number of their colleagues have died mysteriously or disappeared, often while working in China.
In one of the most famous cases, in 2000, Kim Dong Shik, a missionary who was a permanent U.S. resident, was grabbed as he was coming out of a restaurant in Yanji, forced into a car and driven to North Korea. His wife, who lives in Skokie, Ill., said he is believed to have died in a North Korean prison.
Christian killed over land dispute (AsiaNews.it)
(AsiaNews.it) 06 Oct 2011 - Safdar Masih, a Pakistani Christian living in Mian Channu, a town in Khanewal District (Punjab), was murdered Wednesday night over a land dispute. A dozen people were injured. According to sources, a local Church had bought the land to build an orphanage, but an influential local feudal lord, Muhammad Ali Durrani, tried to claim the land. Local residents say the rich Muslim backs the land mafia and tried to take the land bought by the Church. On Monday, local residents submitted an application at the local police station against Durrani and his associates, but police tried to pressure them and threatened them to withdraw their complaint.
On Wednesday, arriving by car, armed men attacked locals, murdered Safdar Masih, and injured over a dozen other residents including children. They also took over the land. Police did not register a First Information Report (FIR) about the anti-Christian attack.
The Catholic Church in Khanewal has condemned the latest incident and called for immediate action.
“We strongly condemn this murder,” Fr Ilyas John from Khanewal said. “This is not the first incident of land grabbing in the district,” he told AsiaNews. “Influential feudals target the weak and the vulnerable.”
The local Church does not have a big congregation but bought the land to build an orphanage. However, it should have given greater consideration to the organizational capacity needed in taking such a step because “the land mafia in this region is very strong and they keep an eye on such projects as they are an easy catch,” the clergyman explained.
Islamist group Boko Haram kills more Christians in Nigeria (CDN)
(CDN) - 29 Set 2011 - -Muslim extremists bent on ridding Nigeria’s volatile middle region of Christianity killed five Christians in Niger state on Thursday (Sept. 22) and three others the previous week in the north-central state of Kaduna, including a 13-year-old girl, sources said.Suspected militants from the Boko Haram Islamic sect in the Niger state town of Madala went to shops owned by Christians at a market at about 8 p.m., ordering them to recite verses from the Quran, eyewitnesses told Compass. If the Christian traders were unable to recite the verses, the gunmen shot and killed them, they said.
The sound of the gunshots compelled Christians to call police in nearby Suleja, and officers arrived to find five Christians had already been killed. Richard Adamu Oguche, a spokesman for the Niger State Police Command in the state capital of Minna, confirmed that five Christians had been killed.
He told Compass the attack was linked to members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect who have recently bombed Christian sites.
Killed in the Madala market attacks were Sunday Emmanuel, John Kalu, Uche Nguweze, and Oliver Ezemah. The identity of the fifth Christian was not immediately known as witnesses could not identify him.
Kaduna Slaughter
Suspected Muslim extremists killed three Christians in a Sept. 17 midnight attack on a Christian community in Kaduna state, sources said.
In guerrilla style typical of recent Islamic extremist attacks in northern Nigeria, about 15 gunmen stormed three houses in Ungwan Rana Bitaro village in the Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna, leaving three dead and eight wounded.
“Three houses were attacked by the attackers before they retreated into surrounding bushes,” a resident of the village told Compass by phone. “When the Muslims came, they brought out the members of these families and started shooting them and cutting some of them with machetes. The sound of gunshots forced us out of our houses, and we took to our heels since we could not fight armed men when we do not have arms like them.”
Killed were Monday Hassan, 55, his 13-year-old daughter Godiya, and his 35-year-old nephew, Istifanus Daniel. The eight who sustained injuries received treatment at Kwoi General Hospital.
Another Christian dies in Pakistan jail (ICC)
(ICC) 20 Sept 2011 - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on September 9, a Christian man accused of blasphemy died in prison of a treatable disease after officials denied him proper medical treatment.The post-mortem report indicated that Aslam Masih died due to Dengue virus. A local Christian human rights organization asked prison officials to provide Masih with proper treatment, but the officials cited security concerns to deny Masih such treatment.
Masih was arrested by the police in the beginning of 2010 after two members of the Tablighi Jammat (an Islamic missionary group) falsely accused him of blasphemy. The police initially released Masih due to lack of evidence, but later re-arrested him after facing pressure from radical Muslims.
In the past, Christians accused of blasphemy have been killed in jail or while still in court. On March 15, Pakistani officials reported that Qamar David had died of a heart attack. However, his lawyer maintained that David was murdered due to the blasphemy accusation. On September 20, 2009, Falish Masih was also found dead inside his prison cell. Though he had severe wounds all over his body, the Pakistani police claimed that Falish committed suicide. On July 19, 2010, Muslim extremists shot and killed Rashid and Sajjid Emmanuel, two brothers accused of blasphemy, outside a court house in Faisalabad.
“I condemn the prison authorities for not providing medical treatment to Aslam Masih and urge Punjab government to constitute (an) inquiry committee to investigate (the) death of Aslam Masih. The death of Aslam Masih in jail has raised questions of safety and security for the life of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother sentenced to death and in jail waiting for her appeal to be heard in Lahore High Court,” said Dr. Nazir Bhatti in a statement to ICC. Dr. Bhatti is the president of the Pakistan Christian Congress.
ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, “Aslam Masih is the latest victim of the brutal blasphemy law in Pakistan. Once again, Pakistan has shown its complete contempt for the lives of its religious minorities. We urge the international community to pressure Pakistan protect the rights of Christians and other vulnerable groups in the country.”
2 Christian aid workers found dead in Afghanistan (SIM)(ICC)
(ServingInMissions) 15 Sept 2011 - ICC Note:Serving in Missions (SIM) reports the death of two of their staff, Siegbert Stocker (69) and Willi Ehret (59), who had been missing in Afghanistan since August. Their bodies were found on September 5. No terrorist organization, including the Taliban, has taken responsibility for the murders. The death of the Christian workers follows the murder of eight aid workers and two nationals, including IAM Doctor Tom Little, in August 2010. The Taliban claimed responsibility for their deaths, accusing the Christian workers of being “American spies” and “preaching Christianity.” Please be in prayer for the families of Mr. Stocker and Mr. Ehret."Many of you will have heard the very sad news of Willi's death. He and his colleague, Siegbert Stocker, were abducted in rural Afghanistan while hiking together about three weeks ago. Their bodies were found on Monday, 5 September 2011.
Willi and Ruth Ehret Willi and Ruth Ehret were missionaries here in Nigeria since their marriage in 1984 until the early nineties. Ruth had formerly served in Niger as a single missionary and Willi had been in Nigeria. Initially they were based in Kaltungo working with ECWA Rural Development. I used to enjoy visiting them on my tours of the area in those days. Even then Willi's love of the outdoors and of hiking was evident as he was a registered guide for climbs to nearby Tangale Peak.
Later they moved to Jos and Willi became the driving force behind the development of a different approach to working with communities. He oversaw the training and re-orientation of ECWA Rural Development and Community Health Programme workers on principles of community based wholistic development. The result was the new People Oriented Development project (POD) of ECWA. Willi's extensive research and planning, including visits to programmes all over Africa, was the energy behind POD's development. He and I worked together very closely in this project and I and many others owe Willi a great debt for how he educated us about what Christian community development is all about.
After leaving Nigeria they lived and worked in Malawi doing aid work and from there in the last few years Willi started some projects in Afghanistan as well, while Ruth remained mostly in Malawi. Willi continued to enjoy hiking. Willi was a great friend whose couragious commitment to Christ and compassion for those in need both spiritual and in all other respects was a challenge to many. He will be greatly missed.
Please pray for Ruth in Malawi at this difficult time, and for their adult children and one grandchild who are scattered in various parts of the world."
Christian murdered in Somalia (CDN)
(CDN) 13 Sept 2011 - A kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on Sept. 2 on the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region, in southwestern Somalia. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street.The kidnapping and subsequent manner of murder suggests that al Shabaab militants had been monitoring him, Christian leaders said. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, a militant group with ties to al Qaeda, have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, and they control the area some 400 kilometers from Mogadishu.A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said it bore the marks of an al Shabaab killing, according to a leader in Somalia’s underground church who lives in another city.“It is usual for the al Shabaab to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or sympathizers of western ideals,” the leader said. “Our brother accepted the Christian faith three years ago and was determined in his faith in God. We greatly miss him.”An area resident said he was on his way to his house when he saw a crowd of stunned people gazing at the corpse.
“I could not immediately comprehend what might have gone wrong, only to learn that someone had been decapitated,” the resident said. “His head was put on his chest.”A Christian said the area community initially did not bury the body out of fear of al Shabaab extremists seeing them associated with a newly discovered convert to Christianity.“The community feared burying him, and his body lay in the open for two days before unknown people buried him secretly,” he said.
Another Christian convert who lives in another city said Kamil had become a Christian three years ago.“This is very sad news for the community,” he said.
A source in Mogadishu with ties to Somalia’s underground church confirmed the murder of Kamil.
With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.
Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments. In the Lower Shabele region of Somalia earlier this year, two Muslim extremists murdered a member of a secret Christian community, sources said. An area source told Compass two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house on April 18.
In Warbhigly village on the outskirts of Mogadishu, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on Jan. 7 by Islamic extremists from al Shabaab, a relative said. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.
Christian murdered in the Philippines (CIC)
(ChristiansInCrisis) 13 Sept 2011 - A Christian man, Clarito dela Cruz, was recently murdered by Muslims in the region of Mindanao in the Philippines. On July 26, a Muslim couple pretending to be husband and wife hired Clarito to drive them to a remote village near the town of Linamon. It is then believed that the couple, likely assisted by a companion, tortured and strangled Clarito with an electrical wire. They also shot him twice and stole his motorbike, which belonged to his father-in-law and was the family's means of earning a living. He leaves behind a wife named Leodel, who is pregnant, and their 3-year-old son. Clarito's parents oversee their church's evangelism program, and his pastor told a VOM worker that Muslims in the area had tried to convert church members to Islam. Muslims attacked Christians in Linamon several years ago, burning homes and stealing livestock.
Pray that Clarito's loved ones will find strength, courage and peace in Christ as they grieve his loss. Pray for special provision for his wife and children as they face life without him. Pray that God will continue to embolden Christians in the Philippines to be imitators of Christ and his steadfast faithfulness at great cost (1 Corinthians 11:1).
24 Christians killed in Nigeria (ICC)(CDN)
29 Aug 2011 - Twenty-four Christians were killed over the past two weeks by Muslim extremists in renewed attacks against Christian communities in central Nigeria.The attacks started Aug. 11 in Rasta Foron village and continued sporadically until the concluding attacks on Aug. 21 in Kwi, Loton, and Jwol villages. Muslim extremists attacked a dozen villages or neighborhoods in the restive Plateau state in central Nigeria, a region known for religiously motivated attacks. In addition to the death toll, community members found this wave of attacks particularly disturbing because soldiers from the national army allegedly participated in the killings, or at a minimum accompanied those who committed the attacks.
Nnaji John, who lost nine family members in the attack on Heipang village, said she saw federal soldiers involved in the attack. “I saw them. They were in army uniforms,” she said in tears. “I even know some of them. They came along with the Muslims to attack us. I can swear to God Almighty that the attack was carried out with the support of the soldiers.”
Chollom Gyang, a man from the predominantly Christian community of Chwelnyap in the city of Jos confirmed that the Aug. 14 attack on his neighborhood was carried out with the support or tacit approval of Muslims in the army’s Special Task Force (STF), a unit designed to stop sectarian attacks.
“The attackers were the very soldiers deployed to the area to ensure protection of the people,” Gyang said. “One of the victims received a call from the STF men in the area to come out and assist, only to get gunned down by them as he stepped out from his house.”
Gyang said that identification cards of Muslim soldiers, berets and other pieces of their uniforms were found in the villages that were attacked. The specific circumstances of how those items were left behind are unknown.
In the wake of the attacks, Plateau Governor Jonah Jang called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian army brought to the state to keep the peace because, he said, Muslims in the army have taken sides with Muslim attackers.
“I am convinced that the armed forces are being polluted with the religious crisis in the country,” Jang said. “Before now, the military personnel used to stay in the barracks, but today the armed forces have started taking sides in this religious crisis, and if they are not called to order it will be dangerous for the country.”
Bitrus Kaze, the representative for Jos in Nigeria’s National Assembly, said in a recent press conference that there have been other times that military ID cards and pieces of uniforms have been found at the scene of sectarian attacks.
“It is a very sad testimony of the STF,” he said. “And what worries me is that in spite of that grievous allegation, it appears to me that STF has not come out, at least to deny it. It is really very strange and worrisome to me that in a scene of such a heinous crime, where a family of nine was wiped out, and an allegation of this nature was leveled against the military, it says nothing about it. It appears to me that the story surrounding the complicity is being given some genuineness.”Captain Charles Ekeocha, spokesman of the task force deployed to Heipang to stop the attacks did not expressly address the allegations, but confirmed the number killed in the attack and said, “My troops went to the area to repel the attack.”
Alamveabee Efihraim Idyorough, a Christian who lives in the Jos suburb of Anaguta said his neighborhood has been attacked multiple times over the past 10 years.
“Do Christian ethnic minorities not have the right to exist in Nigeria?” Idyorough asked. “Are Christians not citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”
Christian killed as Muslims attack village (ANS)
10 Aug 2011 - Muslims attacked Christians in the village of Nazlet Faragallah, in the southern Egyptian Minya province, on the evening of Aug. 7. The attack continued until the early hours of Monday morning, Aug. 8.According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), one Copt was murdered and homes were looted and torched when Muslims from Nazlet Faragallah together with Muslims from four neighboring villages started to attack. The violence occurred at about 8 p.m. after Muslims broke their Ramadan fast. According to eyewitnesses, AINA reported, thousands of Muslims entered the village from all sides, firing automatic weapons (mostly in the air), looting and throwing Molotov Cocktails at several homes.
"They even destroyed our irrigation pumps," AINA reported one witness said. AINA said the first attack was on the house of Father Youanes, pastor of St. George Church. He was beaten, and his home looted and torched.
According to AINA, Maher Nassif Tobias, 50, an employee at the local council, was murdered in his home. He was found by his son. His house was completely looted, including his livestock.
Security forces arrived four hours after the attack began and there were too few of them. "They only had batons in their hands, and were unable to control the situation," said a Coptic village resident. AINA said he added, "Our village is surrounded by corn fields. The Muslims came into the village to loot and quickly disappeared in the fields. The police could not follow them. They were coming from all directions at the same time." Nazlet Faragallah has 8000 inhabitants, comprising about 80 percent Copts and 20 percent Muslims.
AINA said the events were preceded on Saturday by an altercation caused by Muslims harassing Christian girls as they came out of a church service in the late afternoon. Stones were hurled by Muslims at the church, breaking five windows. Some 200 Copts staged a sit-in in front of St. George's Church on Sunday afternoon to protest the attack. AINA reported that in a statement, the security authorities in Minya said the Muslim attack on Nazlet Faragallah was caused by a group of Copts, headed by Haddar Ishaq, firing at Muslims as they came out of the mosque on Sunday afternoon. Copts in the village denied this claim.
AINA said three Muslims have been arrested so far, and three Copts today. None of the Copts were involved in any incident, and one of them had broken his leg two weeks before. "Security is doing its balancing act again," AINA reported one of the villagers said. "They will use these Copts, who were arrested at random, to bargain for their freedom in exchange for village Copts giving up their rights during the 'reconciliation' meeting."
AINA said it was reported that Muslim women walked the streets, warning that after breaking the Ramadan fast the men would come to finish the Christians off, but this did not happen. That because among other issues, security was present in large numbers in the village.
2 Christians die in Eritrean prison (MissionNetworkNews)
(MissionNetworkNews) 09 Aug 2011
Open Doors USA CEO Carl Moeller says, "Two young women, 23 and 27 -- Hiwet Tesfu and Zemame Mehari -- were reported to have died in one of these military camps." They had been in the ALLA military camp for two years and three months.
Their plight was largely ignored on the international stage, as similar cases have been. "Both of these women had apparently been in ill health," says Moeller. "They were repeatedly tortured. They had been repeatedly denied medical treatment." They were buried at the military camp.
The women were arrested in April 2009 for attending a prayer meeting in Dekemhare, 15 kilometers from ALLA Military Camp southeast of Asmara. Both Open Doors and Compass Direct News reports show that at the time of their arrest, prayer and similar Christian meetings were being arranged by groups of young believers in the military service.
However, the government maintains that it has no religious prisoners in custody. Moeller dismisses that claim as semantics. "They don't recognize these evangelical or Pentecostal sects as ‘religious' institutions or organizations; therefore, when they arrest them, it's for holding illegal activities or illegal meetings. So, when they're held, they're not holding ‘religious' prisoners: they're holding ‘social' and ‘political' prisoners."
Since 2002, the government has cracked down on all but the traditional Orthodox, Catholic, or Lutheran churches and certain branches of Islam.
Tesfu and Mehari are the 17th and 18th Christians known to have died while serving time for their faith in one of Eritrea's harsh detention centres. They are the fourth and fifth Christian deaths confirmed in the ALLA Military Camp.
There are reports of thousands of believers in similar conditions, and very few, if any, have actually been charged since their arrest. Given the government reaction to Christians, it might seem logical that this treatment produces a "chilling effect" for Gospel workers. Yet, the opposite seems to be true, says Moeller. "When they see Christians willing to go to prison, willing to die, willing to be tortured for this religion, it creates an undeniable thirst for understanding what that faith is about."
The great paradox, Moeller notes, is that "it is sometimes exactly those places where the situation is the most desperate that we see the growth of the church most dramatically. I believe it's because that in the midst of the crucible of persecution, Christians are continuing to stand up."
Please continue to pray for Christians all over Eritrea who are suffering dearly for their Christian beliefs. Pray for godly wisdom, perseverance, and God's protection in their lives. Pray that Christians across the world would open up their hearts for these persecuted believers, continuing to pray and advocate earnestly for them
10 Christians killed in Nigeria (ICC)
09 Aug 2011 - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that members of a radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, killed at least ten Christians in Maiduguri, Nigeria over the past two months in what a Christian leader is calling a “silent killing” of Christians.In an interview with ICC, an anonymous local church leader explained, “Boko Haram is seeking to eliminate Christianity because they want Islamic (Sharia) law. They don’t want to see anything Christian in the northern states [of Nigeria]. That is why churches are being persecuted and Muslims who don’t follow the [hardline teachings of] Boko Haram are also persecuted.”Boko Haram is close to achieving its goal of eliminating Christianity from Maiduguri. Most of the Christians have fled the city in fear of further attacks by the Islamists. Of the churches that remain, some have felt compelled to suspend their services to protect their congregations.
The Nigerian government, who has also been attacked by Boko Haram, deployed security forces to quell the violence, but came under sharp criticism from human rights groups for excessive use of force and the indiscriminate killing of civilians. The government of Nigeria has now established a committee to investigate the members of Boko Haram and look into the reasons for the violence.
The church leader told ICC that the few Christians who remain in the city are praying and fasting for God’s intervention. When asked what Christians could do to help, the church leader said, “They can pray for their fellow Christian brothers and sisters in Maiduguri. [We also] ask for assistance in the rebuilding of churches that have been burned down since 2006. The government has not compensated for the loss of Christians, but it has compensated for losses that Muslims suffered [at the hands of radical Islamists].”
Another pastor, Michael Nayak, murdered in India (ChristianTodayIndia)
(ChristianTodayIndia) 02 Aug 2011 - Another murder of a Christian pastor is being reported from Orissa's communally sensitive Kandhamal district.The body of Michael Nayak, a pastor belonging to the Kandhamal Union of Baptist Churches, was found last Wednesday near the village of Mondakia. Before the murder, on July 26, Michael was reportedly met by two of his Hindu tribal friends who later that evening requested for a drive back home. The next morning, Pramod Mallik, Sarpanch of Rebingia Panchayat, saw Michael’s body lying across the road and reported the same to his brothers.
Police has passed off the case as an instance of road accident. This, however, is being refuted by Michael’s family who has gathered evidences to prove it was a murder. "The body was lying in a pit and there was a wound below the ear where blood was oozing out. The body had no other bruises or cuts. Certainly it is not a case of accident, it is a murder" said Surendra Nayak, eldest brother of the deceased. "The glass of the headlight came out (not even broken) and the gear shifter was damaged, otherwise the bike is in good condition. I refuse to accept the police version that he could not turn his bike at the bend of the road and fell down. In fact even his spectacles were not broken," commented Daniel Nayak, second brother of Michael.
Interestingly, both the friends who had travelled with Michael were not seen during the post mortem or burial. The incident has come seven months after another Protestant pastor, Saul Pradhan, was found murdered near a pond in Pakala village. While police attributed Pradhan's death to cold weather, family believes it was part of a hate campaign as the body showed signs of struggle.
"Police in Kandhamal are conniving to make murders look like accidents. The latest murder bore a startling resemblance to Saul Pradhan's case. Pradhan as well was met by two Hindu friends before his murder," said KG Markose, a missionary activist in Kandhamal.
Markose alleged that police and RSS were conspiring against Christian leaders in Kandhamal. "Manoj Pradhan, MLA of G Udayagiri, a convict on bail, is planning and instigating fanatics to attack Christians," he said. Kandhamal witnessed unprecedented anti-Christian violence after the murder of VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his aides in 2008.The violence killed more than 90 people and displaced around 50,000 others.
Although two fast track courts were set up to achieve quick disposal of cases, trials are now seeing more acquittals than convictions.On Saturday, fast track court 1 acquitted 39 accused in the violence due to lack of evidence. While about 29 were arrested on charges on torching houses in Dagapadar village, another 10 were arrested for their alleged involvement in a riot at Kritingia village on August 28, 2008.
Michael Digal murdered in India (AsiaNews)
01 Aug 2011 - (AsiaNews) Michael Digal was killed for revenge. The Christian leader and activist testified against Hindu radicals after the Kandhamal pogroms, this according to investigators who are probing his death. Initially, state police had ruled his death accidental before the autopsy report was completed. The decomposing body of the 43-year-old man was found on Wednesday near Baliguda Block, Kandhamal District (Orissa), three days after he went missing, near Mdikia (see “Christian leaded found dead in Kandhamal, Sajan George accuses Hindu radicals,” in AsiaNews, 28 July 2011). It was later moved to the government hospital in Baliguda, where a post-mortem was conducted yesterday.According to his relatives, Michael was called from home on a pretext three days before his body was found, and was not seen alive after that. The investigation, conducted with the help of a team from the Global Council of India Christians (GCIC), describes a different scenario than an accident.
Michael Digal, a Christian leader in the Bataguda area, had testified in court in a case related to the 2008 anti-Christian pogroms in Kandhamal District. The man charged with the offence was convicted and sentenced. Once out of prison, he slowly befriended Michael. Last Sunday, this “friend” asked Michael to accompany him in bicycle from Baliguda to Bataguda. Once in the forest, far from prying eyes, the false friend stabbed Michael to death.
Christians fleeing for their lives (ICC)(Christian Post)
20 July 2011 - Clashes between warring tribes and a jihad being waged by Islamic militants have Christians in Nigeria shutting down churches and fleeing for their lives.Among those killed in the latest spate of violence were four Christians, according to Christian Aid Mission (CAM). Also, “entire villages have been burned, including the homes of 25 native Christians,” CAM told Worthy News in a statement.The missions group believes a clash over land between the Kona and Mumuye tribes is responsible for the unrest.
Meanwhile, an Islamic militant group known as Boko Haram, has turned its sights on Christians in another part of the region, according to BosNewsLife.The group, which wants to overthrow the Nigerian government and make Sharia the law of the land, has been attacking Christians for the past few months.One church recently attacked in an area just north of Abuja belongs to the Evangelical Church Winning All. Members of the local church were holding a prayer meeting last Monday when a bomb was thrown onto the premises. Fortunately, the explosive device only damaged the walls of the church building.
That attack came just one day after a bomb attack on the All Christian-Fellowship Mission in Suleja. In that incident, according to the news agency, at least three people were killed and three others injured in the explosion. The group had been conducting a committee meeting.These attacks have prompted some leaders to shut down their churches, while others are hoping to confuse the militants by changing their worship times.
The Boko Haram militants have attacked at least a dozen other places of worship, including St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Maiduguri. During the attack on June 7, about 50 members were gathered inside.According to a report by BBC News, three people outside the church were killed. In that incident, police arrested 14 men in connection with the crimes.The militants posted a message online recently, promising that more attacks were forthcoming, as some of their members have completed special training in Somalia.
Vietnam Massacre of Hmong Christians; Pastors “Beheaded”
July 18 2011: By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International CorrespondentHANOI, VIETNAM (Worthy News)– Vietnamese security forces beheaded pastors and shot to death “many” other Hmong Christians who gathered to await Christ’s return after a false prophecy by an American preacher, according to a leading advocacy group’s leader.
James Jacob Prasch, executive director of Moriel Ministries (MM), said Thursday, July 14, that the massacre was the horrific aftermath of shortwave broadcasts by Harold Camping of California-based Family Radio.
Camping, 89, claimed that Jesus Christ would return to Earth to “rapture” his followers to heaven on May 21 as mankind had run out of time.
Following the broadcasts, some 7,000 Hmong Christians attempted to gather “on a mountain praising God” in late April and early May, but instead found “police and military police” who slaughtered “many of them at gunpoint beheading two pastors,” Prasch told supporters in an electronic message to supporters obtained by Worthy News.
International rights activists had suggested that dozens of Hmong Christians may have been killed, but Prasch suggested the real figure may be higher. “I am told by Hmong pastors that so many were shot dead that they were buried in mass graves bulldozed over,” he added. Others were reportedly detained.
Full article:http://www.worthynews.com/10648-vietnam-massacre-hmong-christians-pastors-beheaded
Sudan Christians murdered (ICC)(CDN)
June 28, 2011 - SOUTH KORDAFAN, SUDAN (CNTN) is reporting that military intelligence agents killed one Christian, and Islamic militants sympathetic to the government slaughtered another last week after attacking churches in Sudan's embattled South Kordofan state.Refugees waiting in a internally displaced persons camp after fleeing the fighting in Sudan's South Kordofan stateCDN said that Christian sources have said that a Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Intelligence unit detained Nimeri Philip Kalo, a student at St. Paul Major Seminary, on June 8 near the gate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Kadugli's al Shaeer area and shot him in front of bystanders. Kalo and other Christians were fleeing the town after Muslim militias loyal to the SAF attacked and looted at least three church buildings in Kadugli, they said."Armed conflict in Kadugli broke out between southern and northern militaries on June 6 after northern forces seized Abyei last month," the CDN story continued. "On June 8, Islamic militants loyal to the SAF slaughtered a young Christian man by sword in Kadugli Market, the sources said.
"Adeeb Gismalla Aksam, 33, was a bus driver whose father is an elder with the Evangelical Church in Kadugli. The Islamic militias were heard shouting 'Allahu-akbar' (God is greater) as they began shooting at a Roman Catholic Church building the same day. No one was hit by the bullets shot at the building from the outside, but SAF agents arrested the Rev. Abraham James Lual in front of his congregation. Authorities took him to an unknown location and tortured him for two days, a priest said." The story added that the SAF and Islamic militias on June 8 also set fire to buildings of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and the Sudanese Church of Christ in Kadugli, sources said. "The churches and pastors were directly targeted," said the Rt. Rev. Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail.
There are unconfirmed estimates of more than 53,000 people displaced due to the fighting in Southern Kordofan between the northern army known as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of Southern Sudan, according to the UN humanitarian wing.Media reports say that fighting, including bombardments and artillery shelling, has been reported in 11 of 19 localities in Southern Kordofan state, and fighting has been reported in Unity state in Southern Sudan, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said.
Some of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN staff, have taken refuge outside the compound of the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMIS) on the outskirts of the Southern Kordofan capital of Kadugli.
Pakistan Christian brutally murdered (ANS)
June 27, 2011 - A Pakistani Christian civil rights activist has revealed details of the savage murder of a Christian road sweeper and claims that the perpetrator could now well get away with his "crime."Khalid Shahzad, 45, who is also as an editor of a weekly column called "Stop Crimes Lahore," told the ASSIST News Service that the murdered man was Abas Masih, a 40-year-old road cleaner in Lahore.
"The man had four children who were all going to school, and Abas Masih had vision to a build better future for his children so they would not have to be, like himself, a 'slave' of the local City District Government," said Shahzad, who is also the director of the Dorothea Center for Special children, in Lahore.
"He was working hard when, at 5:00 PM on May 21, 2011, he was collecting garbage in his handcart when suddenly a Muslim man rudely called him and ordered him to pick all of the garbage from the front of his shop."
Shahzad said that Abas Masih replied, "Please wait a while. I will empty my cart so the weight in it will be lower and then I'll pick up all your garbage."Khalid Shahzad then alleged that the Muslim became infuriated and insisted that Mr. Masih pick up the garbage immediately and when he didn't do this right way, he picked up a knife and pushed it in to Abas Masih's chest and the knife entered directly into his heart.
"Abas Masih died at the spot," he said.He went onto say that a First Investigation Report was registered in Lower Mall Police Station, on May 25, 2011, on the behalf of Abas Masih's wife."The city's District Government did not become involved although he was killed during the time he was on duty," said Shahzad."My information is that the Muslim man will be released soon because Abas Masih wife is not able to pursue this case because of lack of funds and is now looking for a job to support her children" he told ANS.
This is yet another tragic case of how Christians in Pakistan are being treated by Muslims, who often see them lower than animals in the country's society.
Pastor and Church official murdered in Nigeria (ANS)(CDN)
June 13, 2011 - Muslim extremists from the Boko Haram sect shot and killed a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) pastor and his church secretary in Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state.The killing occurred on June 7.According to a story by Compass Direct News, Rev. David Usman, 45, and church secretary Hamman Andrew were the latest casualties in an upsurge of Islamic militancy that has engulfed northern Nigeria this year. The violence has resulted in the destruction of church buildings and the killing and maiming of Christians.
Rev. Titus Dama Pona, pastor with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Maiduguri, told Compass that Pastor Usman was shot and killed by the members of the Boko Haram near an area of Maiduguri called the Railway Quarters, where the slain pastor's church is located.
Pona said Christians in Maiduguri are terrified over the violence of Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) on northern Nigeria.
"Christians have become the targets of these Muslim militants. We no longer feel free moving around the city, and most churches no longer carry out worship service for fear of becoming targets of these unprovoked attacks," Compass reported Pona said.
Officials at COCIN's national headquarters in Jos, Plateau state, confirmed the killing of Pastor Usman. The Rev. Logan Gongchi of a COCIN congregation in Kerang, Jos, told Compass that area Christians were shocked at the news.
Compass reported Gongchi said he attended Gindiri Theological College with Usman beginning in August 2003, and that both of them were ordained into pastoral ministry on Nov. 27 2009."We knew him to be very gentle, an introvert, who was always silent in the class and only spoke while answering questions from our teachers," Gongchi said. "He had a simple lifestyle and was easygoing with other students. He was very accommodating and ready at all times to withstand life's pressures - this is in addition to being very jovial."
Compass reported Gongchi described Usman as "a pastor to the core because of his humility. I remember he once told me that he was not used to working with peasant farmers' working tools, like the hoe. But with time he adapted to the reality of working with these tools on the farm in the school."Usman was excellent at counseling Christians and others while they were at the COCIN theological college, Gongchi said. He added that the pastor greatly encouraged him when he was suffering a long illness from 2005 to 2007.
"His encouraging words kept my faith alive, and the Lord saw me overcoming my ill health," he said. "So when I heard the news about his murder, I cried."
Motives
According to Gongchi, Usman had once complained about the activities of Boko Haram, saying that unless the Nigerian government faced up to the challenge of its attacks, the extremist group would consume the lives of innocent persons."Pastor Usman once commented on the activities of the Boko Haram, which he said has undermined the church not only in Maiduguri, but in Borno state," Compass reported Gongchi said. "At the time, he urged us to pray for them, as they did not know how the problem will end."
Compass said Gongchi advised the Nigerian government to find a lasting solution to Boko Haram's violence, which has also claimed the lives of moderate Muslim leaders and police.The Railway Quarters area in Maiduguri housed the seat of Boko Haram until 2009, when Nigerian security agencies and the military demolished its headquarters and captured and killed the sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and some of his followers.Compass said Usman's killing marked the second attack on his church by the Muslim militants. The first attack came on July 29 2009, when Boko Haram militants burned the church building and killed some members of his congregation.
On June 6, Compas reported, the militants had bombed the St. Patrick's Catholic Church, along with other areas in Maiduguri, killing three people. In all, 14 people were killed in three explosions at the church and police stations, and authorities have arrested 14 people.
4 Christian woman murdered in Laos (ICC)
Lao and Vietnamese troops killed four Christian women in front of their families – amid an apparent crackdown on 'dissidents' in Laos.The Lao People's Army, supported by soldiers and secret police from Vietnam, seized a group of Hmong in Xiengkhouang Province and confiscated their Bibles. Soldiers then shot and killed four of the women, after repeatedly raping two of them, according to Voice of the Martyrs Canada.
Their husbands and children were reportedly beaten, tied up and forced to witness the killings in mid-April. It is not known where the survivors are now.
The Centre for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington DC reports that Vietnamese secret police and soldiers are being deployed inside Laos in increasing numbers as part of a communist crackdown on groups perceived as dissident.VOM Canada too refers to what it calls a 'disturbing increase of repression' facing Christians in Laos. The CPPA traces the start of the crackdown to late 2010.
It is not known whether the Hmong group was targeted because of their ethnicity or their religion. The communist regime in Laos is particularly repressive of ethnic minority groups such as the Hmong, but it also encourages – sometimes enforces – Buddhism to impose a sense of national unity and identity. The mainly Christian Hmong are targeted on both accounts.Protestant Christians in general and the Hmong Christian community in particular are viewed by officials and other sections of Lao society as being pro-Western and therefore a threat to communist rule.
Pastor and 14 year old girl murdered in Colombia (CSW)
In yet another deadly attack on Christians, FARC guerrillas have shot and killed a fourteen-year-old girl who was a member of a Seventh Day Adventist Church at her home. The pastor of the church, Pastor Nieves, was later shot and killed, leaving behind his wife and two children.
Pastor Gualberto Nieves and fourteen-year-old girl assassinated by Colombian guerrillas
On Monday 2 May, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked a rural home of some members of Pastor Gualberto Nieves’ Seventh Day Adventist Church in Arauca. A fourteen year old girl, Mayerli Niño Blanco was shot and killed, leaving her siblings to walk three hours to the nearest farm to phone their father, who was travelling. He and Pastor Nieves immediately made their way to the farm on horseback, where Pastor Nieves was shot in the chest and killed instantly. Pastor Nieves is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
On Monday 2 May, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked a rural home of some members of Pastor Gualberto Nieves’ Seventh Day Adventist Church in Arauca. A fourteen year old girl, Mayerli Niño Blanco was shot and killed, leaving her siblings to walk three hours to the nearest farm to phone their father, who was travelling. He and Pastor Nieves immediately made their way to the farm on horseback, where Pastor Nieves was shot in the chest and killed instantly. Pastor Nieves is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
Armed attacks target Christians
Illegal armed groups including the FARC guerrillas make these attacks frequently, targeting pastors and Christians, forcing them to stop preaching, harassing them, disappearing them and murdering them. Earlier this year another pastor and his daughter were murdered outside an evangelical church by rightwing paramilitaries during a Sunday morning service*. Between 25 and 30 Colombian pastors are murdered by armed groups ever year, with more than 300 pastors killed since 2000. They are a target of the illegal armed groups because they promote a faith and lifestyle which directly conflicts with the values and aims of the armed groups.These latest stories show the constant threat that Christians are faced with and the importance for continued advocacy and support for pastors and Christians facing violent persecution.
Pastor's wife and Children murdered in Nigeria (CDN)
KURUM, Nigeria, May 10 (CDN) — As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”Muslim extremists who attacked Kurum village, in the Bogoro local government area of Nigeria’s Bauchi state, had already killed two of the couple’s children in a rampage that began Wednesday (May 4) at midnight. Rike, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in Kurum, next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum James Rike, a few yards away.“I rushed to my daughter, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her,” he said. “I held her hand and began to pray, knowing she too was about to die. She told me that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.”
The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children. Pastor Rike said that when the attackers reached his house, they tried to force their way into their bedrooms.“I opened a backdoor, and we ran out into the dark night while the militants pursued us,” he said. “They shot my wife and two of our kids as they tried to escape.”Pastor Rike said that after killing the two children, Faith James Rike and 1-year-old Fyali James Rike, the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete.
“I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “I knew my wife would not last long, and the only thing I did was to encourage her to hold on to her faith in Jesus.”The Muslim extremists set more than 20 houses ablaze before leaving the village, he said.Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and he said his adopted daughter, Whulham James Rike, was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro. He said five others others were also receiving hospital treatment.
Among those killed, church sources said, were Murna Ayuba; Angelina Ezekiel; Dorcas Sunday; Asabar Toma; Rhoda Joseph; Dhunhgwa Zakka; Bukata Amos; Ishaku Amos; Kalla Amos; Amos Daniel; Samidah Joel; and Changtan Joel.The Muslim jihadists also stole money and the other valuables from the Christian village as they withdrew, church sources said.
The area has a history of sectarian violence, and the attack follows the death of hundreds of people in Bauchi and other northern states last month after Muslims rioted over the April 16 election of a Christian, Goodluck Jonathan, as president. He defeated a Muslim candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. Saying more than 200 church buildings were burned, Christian leaders in northern Nigeria have called for a federal probe into the violence, in which Christians mounted counter attacks.Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution. The church where Pastor Rike ministers has about 30 members and has been in existence for more than 50 years. Those killed were members of the three churches in the village – the COCIN church, St. John’s Catholic Church and an Evangelical Church of West Africa congregation.
Pastor Rike said the incident has strengthened his faith in Jesus. “Whatever is the situation, I will never forsake Christ,” he said. “All human beings are created by God, and our attackers must know that they need to abandon anything that will lead them to destroy creations of God.”
At least 49 Christians dead after attack from Vietnam People's Army(ICC)(AsiaNews)
5/9/2011 Vietnam (AsiaNews) - At least 49 dead, hundreds injured and an unspecified number of arrests: this is the toll from a wave of bloody repression unleashed by the security forces against the Vietnamese Christians and animists, from the Hmong community, a ethnic minority that lives in the northwest of the country and in Laos.The episode began April 30, at Muong Nhe, Dien Bien province, where about 8,500 Hmong gathered to pray and ask for reforms and religious freedom. The event was interrupted by a violent intervention of the People's Army and security forces, who killed and wounded believers and made hundreds of arrests, deporting many of the detainees to undisclosed locations in Vietnam and Laos where, according to Christy Lee, Executive Director of Hmong Advance, Inc. (HAI) in Washington, DC, "they could have been tortured or killed, or simplify disappeared". All electricity and communications with the area have been cut.
Among those arrested are some extraordinary Eucharistic ministers who serve the four Catholic communities of the region. In the area there are a thousand registered Catholics, who pray to God with discretion in what is called "white zone" in which the level of violation of religious freedom is the highest in the country. And there are Christians who have emigrated to keep the faith. Until now, Catholic priests have only been able to go twice to Muong Nhe, posing as tourists and were under continuous surveillance and followed by police officers who controlled their every move to prevent any attempt at evangelization.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and army officers, through the official VNA, accuse the protesters of being irredentists operating at the instigation of "reactionaries who cheat the popular credulity spreading rumours about the presence of a supernatural power and calling for a separate empire of the Hmong people. " Hanoi has tried to close the area and drive the population from the mountains and jungle.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has stated that it will investigate the incident, which occurred just two days after the report of the Commission on International Religious Freedom which asked the State Department to put Vietnam on the list of countries of "particular concern for the respect of religious freedom."
Muslim attackers kill 17 Christians in Nigeria (ICC)
May 7,2011 - International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that earlier this week, Muslim attackers killed 17 Christians, including the wife and three children of a pastor, and burned down several Christian homes in the village of Kurum, Bauchi State, Nigeria."It is not right for anyone to kill another person. Life is precious and a gift from God. Since 1999 in Bauchi state, several Christians have been killed but no one has been brought before justice. The government has to intervene. The government has to be fair to all its citizens," said Reverend Turbe Ngodem in an interview with ICC.Reverend Ngodem is the General Secretary of Christian Association of Nigeria in Bauchi State.
ICC says that since the introduction of Sharia law in northern Nigeria in 1999, thousands of Christians have been killed by Muslim radicals in an unrelenting series of regular attacks. The local Muslim government officials have failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Jonathan Racho, ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, said, "We are extremely concerned with this latest killing of Christians by Muslim attackers. We once again urge Nigerian officials to prevent the bloodshed of innocent Christians in northern Nigeria. Nigeria must end impunity for the perpetrators of these heinous crimes."
Hundreds have died in clashes in Nigeria following national elections last month in which Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, won the presidential poll against a Muslim, Muhammadu Buhari.
The worst of the violence was in Bauchi and Kaduna states.
ICC is calling for people to call the Nigerian embassy in your country and politely ask Nigerian officials to fully investigate this latest attack and bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.
Nigerian Embassies:
USA 202-968-8400 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202-968-8400 end_of_the_skype_highlighting UK 0207 839 1244 Canada 613-236-0521 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 613-236-0521 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
12 dead as Salafi's attack in Egypt (ICC)(CNN)
5/8/2011 Egypt (CNN) – Egypt's prime minister called for an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday, a day after officials reported at least 12 people were killed in sectarian clashes outside a Cairo church.Officials said the violence began over rumors that a Christian woman who converted to Islam was being held at the church against her will.Prime Minister Essam Sharaf postponed a trip to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the church attack, according to EgyNews, Egypt's official news agency. Egyptian state TV said 10 people died and 232 were wounded in the violence Saturday. At least 190 were arrested.
During clashes on Saturday, witnesses said an armed group of Muslims marched on Saint Mena Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the oldest churches in Egypt.
Witnesses said Muslims and Christians exchanged gunfire, sending people running for cover."With my own eyes I saw three people killed and dozens injured," said Mina Adel, a Christian resident. "There's no security here. There's a big problem. People attacked us, and we have to protect ourselves."
There were conflicting reports about who attacked the church.Some witnesses said the group was made up of Muslim fundamentalists, known as Salafists. Others, including Interior Ministry spokesman Alla Mahmoud, said it was angry Muslims from a nearby mosque.
Mahmoud said the clashes were sparked by reports of a Christian woman who married a Muslim man and was allegedly being held inside the church.Military, special forces and riot police were called in to try to break up the violence, firing warning shots in the air, according to witnesses.
At the same time, at the nearby Coptic Church of the Holy Virgin, firefighters responded to a blaze that witnesses said appeared to have been started by the members of the same group that attacked the other church.Hundreds of residents in the working class neighborhood of Imbaba stood outside as the church burned and two men were seen jumping from a window of the building, according to witnesses.
Across the street, residents standing outside the Al Wehda mosque blamed "thugs" for the violence."It was thugs who burned the church, not Salafists (fundamentalists)," said Jamal El Banan. "We never had such sedition before the revolution."
Four Ethiopian Muslims Beat Evangelist To Death, Assault His Pregnant Wife (ICC)
On April 21 four Muslims beat an evangelist to death and assaulted his pregnant wife in Worabe, Ethiopia, an area that is 97% Muslim.The Muslims lured Evangelist Abraham Abera from Kale Hiwot Church at 9:30 p.m. telling him that his friend was sick and needed immediate attention. Abraham left with the men; they turned on him and began to beat him with rods. The minister’s pregnant wife, Birtukan, saw the men attack her husband and ran to intervene, but the Muslims beat her as well.
Abraham died on the spot and his wife, who sustained a severe head injury, was left unconscious in the street. She was found and taken to a hospital in Butajira, where she regained consciousness on April 22nd and was able to recount the details of the attack. Birtukan spoke with an ICC source and said she knew two of the attackers. She said as the Muslims were beating her and her husband, they told them, “You (Christians) are growing in number in our area. You are spreading your message (the gospel). We will destroy you.”
Though Birtukan did suffer injuries to her mid-section, her unborn baby fortunately survived the attack.
The attackers still remain at large. A Christian leader in the area told ICC that the men may not be arrested because the local officials are also Muslims. “Christians in Worabe and its surrounding areas are persecuted at the hands of Muslim radicals, and the local government officials, who are Muslims, don’t protect Christians. We urge the higher government authorities [state and federal officials] to intervene and protect us,” said the Christian leader.
“The brutal killing of Evangelist Abraham and the beating of his wife, Birtukan, is deeply troubling. We urge the federal government authorities to investigate this latest attack as well as reports of persecution against Christians in the Silte zone,” said Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa.
New Christian Convert from Islam Murdered in Somalia (ANS)
Muslim militants shoot young man dead after learning he had begun to follow Christ
Two Muslim extremists in Somalia on Monday (April 18, 2011) murdered a member of a secret Christian community in Lower Shabele region as part of a campaign to rid the country of Christianity, sources have told Compass Direct News Service (CDN). An area contact told Compass that two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house at 7:30 p.m.
"Two al Shabaab members dragged him out of his house, and after 10 minutes they fired several shots at him," said an area source who requested anonymity. "He then died immediately." The militants then shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is greater]" before fleeing, he said.
CDN went on to report that Adan, single and living with his Muslim family, was said to have converted to Christianity several months ago. Area Christians said they suspected someone had informed the Islamic militants of his conversion. One source said that a relative who belonged to al Shabaab had told Adan's mother that he suspected her son was a Christian.
"This incident is making other converts live in extreme fear, as the militants always keep an open eye to anyone professing the Christian faith," the source said. CDN added that two months ago there was heavy fighting between the rebel al Shabaab militants and forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), in which the TFG managed to recover some areas controlled by the rebels. Al Shabaab insurgents control much of southern and central Somalia.
"With estimates of al Shabaab's size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do," said the CDN story. "While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam."
Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Said to have ties with al Qaeda, al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.
The CDN story concluded by saying that on Jan. 7, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on the outskirts of Mogadishu by al Shabaab militia, according to a relative. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed in Warbhigly village when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.
Two Muslim extremists in Somalia on Monday (April 18, 2011) murdered a member of a secret Christian community in Lower Shabele region as part of a campaign to rid the country of Christianity, sources have told Compass Direct News Service (CDN). An area contact told Compass that two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house at 7:30 p.m."Two al Shabaab members dragged him out of his house, and after 10 minutes they fired several shots at him," said an area source who requested anonymity. "He then died immediately." The militants then shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is greater]" before fleeing, he said.
CDN went on to report that Adan, single and living with his Muslim family, was said to have converted to Christianity several months ago. Area Christians said they suspected someone had informed the Islamic militants of his conversion. One source said that a relative who belonged to al Shabaab had told Adan's mother that he suspected her son was a Christian.
"This incident is making other converts live in extreme fear, as the militants always keep an open eye to anyone professing the Christian faith," the source said. CDN added that two months ago there was heavy fighting between the rebel al Shabaab militants and forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), in which the TFG managed to recover some areas controlled by the rebels. Al Shabaab insurgents control much of southern and central Somalia.
"With estimates of al Shabaab's size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do," said the CDN story. "While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam."
Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. Said to have ties with al Qaeda, al Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.
The CDN story concluded by saying that on Jan. 7, a mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on the outskirts of Mogadishu by al Shabaab militia, according to a relative. The relative, who requested anonymity, said Asha Mberwa, 36, was killed in Warbhigly village when the Islamic extremists cut her throat in front of villagers who came out of their homes as witnesses.
"She is survived by her children - ages 12, 8, 6 and 4 - and her husband, who was not home at the time she was apprehended. Her husband and children have fled to an undisclosed location," the story said.
22 Killed as Afghan protests continue. (ChristianPost)
At least 22 people have been killed in Afghanistan so far in a series of violent protests against the burning of the Quran by two Florida pastors, according to reports coming fromAfghanistan.
Two people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday as new demonstrations erupted in the country over the burning of the Muslim holy book by extremist Christian preachers Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp.Jones had drawn condemnation from many people, including US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, over his plan to burn the Quran in September. He did not carry out his plan then and vowed he never would, saying he had made his point.
Although attendance and initial coverage of the Quran burning was low, the event resulted in ten people killed and more than 80 injured in clashes with security forces Saturday during day-long protests in Kandahar, which is the spiritual heartland of the Taliban who have fought an insurgency against Hamid Karzai's government and its Western allies since they were ousted by the US-led invasion.
Casualties were reported on Sunday at demonstrations in Kandahar and the neighboring districts of Panjwayi and Dand. At least one person was killed, according to a government official.
we ask your continued prayer for the safety of Christians in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghans kill at least 8 foreigners after the burning of Koran by a U.S. preacher
Photograph by: Omar Sobhani, Reuters
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — At least eight foreign UN workers were killed, two of them beheaded, on Friday in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif after a demonstration against the burning of Korans by a U.S. preacher, a regional police spokesman said.
"Eight foreigners were killed and two were beheaded," said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for the northern region.
Over a thousand protesters had flooded into the streets of the normally peaceful city after Friday prayers, and after two or three hours violence broke out.
A small group attacked the UN compound, throwing stones and climbing on blast barriers to try and enter.
A police source, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media, said protesters had stormed into the compound where they attacked the victims.
The chief of the mission in the city was wounded but survived, and the dead included employees of Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish nationalities, he added.
Also believed to be among the dead are Nepalese Gurkhas, perhaps three, Postmedia News has learned. Gurkha soldiers are among security staff at the UN mission, officials say.
A United Nations spokesman confirmed that there had been deaths of personnel at the mission in Mazar-i-Sharif but declined to give further details, saying the situation on the ground was still confusing.
Staffan De Mistura, the top UN representative in Afghanistan, was heading to Mazar-i-Sharif to handle the matter personally, he added.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through western Herat city and around 200 in Kabul, but there was no violence at either protest.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Afghan+storms+office+kills+beheads/4542260/story.html#ixzz1IHxgn5F2
Two Christians killed, churches burned: extremists respond to Florida Koran burning (asianews.it)
Islamabad (AsiaNews) - Two believers killed, churches attacked, copies of the Bible burned: the Christian community in Pakistan is once again the victim of violence by Islamic fundamentalists, who have targeted places of worship in the country. The extremist violence was triggered by the insane act - repeatedly condemned by Christians in Pakistan and India – of the pastor Wayne Sapp, who last March 20, in Florida burned a Koran under the supervision of the evangelical preacher Terry Jones. The escalating violence has raised alarm over the fate of Asia Bibi, a symbol of the abuses committed in the name of the blasphemy law. The bishop of Islamabad / Rawalpindi defines the US pastor a "fanatic" who encourages followers to a "violent ideology", the consequences of which have an impact "on innocent Christians" across the world.
On March 25, a mob of Islamic extremists attacked a Pentecostal church in Hyderabad, killing two Christians and burning some copies of the Bible. Eyewitnesses said that the fundamentalists stormed the place of worship looking to set it on fire, but a group of believers defended the church. Security forces have fled the scene, leaving those present at the mercy of the crowd. The attackers hurled anti-Christian slogans and a feeling of anger toward the religious minority has spread. in the city The pastor of the church reports that "despite the condemnation of the burning of the Koran" the community "has come under attack because they think that we are linked to the Americans." He emphasizes that "we are Pakistanis, who were born in this land and we do not have any kind of relationship with the United States." "What fault did those two innocent people have – he ends - who were not Americans, but only Pakistani Christians?".
In a second incident, the Full Gospel Assembly Church, in the Badami Bagh area of Lahore, was attacked. Again fundamentalists burned the church, threw copies of the Bible into the street and accused the Christians of blasphemy, claiming they found pieces of the Koran, not far from the church. During the attack some security guards were injured.
Meanwhile, the weekend demonstrations were repeated against the burning of the Koran wanted by Pastor Terry Jones in different cities of Pakistan - among other Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad. The demonstrators, who burned his picture and chanted slogans and chants against the United States, called for the death of U.S. preacher. Extremists also threatened reprisals and other targeted attacks against Christians, if the U.S. government fails to take action against Pastor Jones.
The Pakistani Christian community, however, in a show of support with Muslims, condemns, and demonstrates against the burning of the Koran. Catholic priest Fr. Anwar Patras, said that Christians are first of all Pakistanis, "we were born in this land and we will be buried here, we have no connection with Pastor Terry Jones and his sick ideas." Condemning the attack, the religious priest shows sympathy for the two Christians killed "and reiterates that" the community is in danger”.
Recent violence has raised the alert level around Asia Bibi, the 45 year old Christian mother of five children, sentenced to death based on the "black law" and in prison, pending appeal. The Masih Foundation reports that "despite security measures" adopted in the cell, the woman is in danger. "She cannot eat prison food - continue the activists - but ingredients are provided to cook her own food, she prays and fasts for her own sake and for the current situation in Pakistan. The Catholic Church has asked for special prayers for her.
Missionary Mary Gardner killed in Jerusalem terror attack(ANS)
A woman killed after an explosion ripped through a bus stop in Jerusalem has been named as a Scottish evangelical Christian.According to the Scottish Daily Record (www.dailyrecord.co.uk), she was Mary Gardner, 59, from Orkney, who was caught in the bomb blast on Wednesday, March 23, 2010
"The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mary, who was a student at the city's Hebrew University, was killed when a bomb weighing up to 2kg exploded across the street from the Jerusalem Convention Centre near the central bus station," said the story.
"The bombing, blamed on Palestinian militants, was the first fatal attack in Jerusalem since 2004 and stoked fears of a fresh round of hostilities."
"Ms. Gardner was an evangelical Christian who spent much of her life living in Togo, where she worked for Wycliffe Bible Translators," said the Daily Record. "She leaves behind her parents, who live in Orkney, Scotland, but was not married and did not have children."
Executive director Eddie Arthur described her as a "lovely lady who was very popular".
He told the Daily Record that Mary worked with Wycliffe in Togo since 1989 where she was part of a team translating the New Testament into a language called Ife.
Two die in prison: Eritrea (ANS)
Two Christians are reported to have died in separate Eritrean prisons after being refused medical treatment amid a renewed crackdown by the authorities against unregistered churches.According to Barnabas Aid (http://barnabasfund.org ), one of the martyrs is known to be 27-year-old woman Seble Hagos Mebrahtu, who was arrested after being caught reading a Bible in her bedroom. Her death comes as a new wave of raids, which started on New Year's Eve, saw more than 100 evangelical believers detained.
Barnabas Aid says almost an entire congregation -- 41 people -- from the capital Asmara was taken into custody where they are said to have endured beatings.
In a media update, Barnabas Aid says: "The following day, 27 believers from various underground churches near Asmara were rounded up by the security forces. On January 9, 35 Christians including 15 women and two elderly men in poor health were seized from a house church gathering in the town of Nakfa."
Muslims Attack Two Christian Families in Egypt, 11 Killed (AINA)
Al-Minya, Egypt, 30 News of a massacre of two Christian Coptic families by Islamists just emerged from Upper Egypt with the return of the Internet connections after a week of Internet blackout by the Egyptian regime. The massacre took place on Sunday, January 30 at 3 PM in the village of Sharona near Maghagha, Minya province. Two Islamists groups, aided by the Muslim neighbors, descended on the roof of houses owned by Copts, killing eleven Copts, including children, and seriously injuring four others.Anba Agathon, Bishop of Maghagha, told Coptic activist Dr. Mona Roman in a televised interview on Al-Karma TV that the killers are their neighbors, who seized the opportunity of the mayhem prevailing in Egypt and the absence of police protection to slaughter the Copts. He said that he visited today the four injured Copts, who escaped death despite being shot, at Maghagha General Hospital and they told him that they recognized the main attackers as they come from the same village of Sharona. They gave the Bishop details of what happened.
"The two families were staying in their homes with their doors locked when suddenly the Islamists descended on them," said Bishop Agathon, "killing eleven and leaving for dead four others family members. In addition, they looted everything that was in the two Coptic houses, including money, furniture and electrical equipment. They also looted livestock and grain."
According to the Bishop the first group was led by Islamist Ibrahim Hamdy Ibrahim, who was joined by a gang of masked assailants. They accessed the roof of the house of Copt Joseph Waheeb Massoud through the roof of his Muslim neighbor Mahgoub el Khawaled. The armed men killed Joseph, his wife Samah, his 15-year old daughter Christine and 8-year-old son Fady Youssef
Another Islamsist group led by Yasser Essam Khaled and several masked men simultaneously accessed the house of Copt Saleeb Ayad Mayez through the roof of his Muslim neighbor Mohamad Hussein el Khawaed. The Islamist shot dead Saleeb, his wife Zakia, his 4-year-old son Joseph, 3-year-old daughter Justina, his 23-year-old sister Amgad, mother Zakia and Ms. Saniora Fahim.
The police in Minya were called and they transferred the bodies in ambulances to Maghagha Hospital.
The Bishop denied any vendetta between the Copts and the Muslims. He called on the police to arrest the Islamist perpetrators immediately, as everyone knows they are the neighbors of the victims. He said "The massacre has nothing to do with the mayhem in Egypt, but the murderers took advantage of the lack of police protection and thought they could commit their crime and no one would notice."
Coptic activist Dr. Hanna Hanna views the Mubarak era with its policy of impunity to be the cause of why Copts are targeted. "Why have those Islamists chosen those two Coptic families and not Muslim ones to slaughter and rob? I believe it is because they know that with Copts they can literally get away with murder."
Murdered: Nancy Davis: Mexico (ANS)
Missionary Nancy Davis was murdered by suspected drug lords in Mexico. After being shot her husband , Sam, rushed her to a border hospital near Texas where she was declared dead on arrival.Nancy and Sam Davis was driving home as gunmen started to open fire on their truck, one of the bullets hitting Nancy in the head. It is not sure what the motive was behind the attack.
Please pray for Sam Davis and those left behind in Mexico. Please pray for the Christian Church in Mexico.
Murdered: Waqas Gill: Pakistan (CDN)
KARACHI, Pakistan, January 18 (CDN) — Pakistani police are threatening the father of an 18-year-old Christian man whom officers raped, killed and threw into a sewer last week, according to area Christians.Christian residents of Akhter Colony, Karachi who pulled the body of Waqas Gill from the sewer on Jan. 11 protested an alleged police cover-up by placing the corpse in the middle of a street and chanting slogans against officers of Mehmoodabad police station. They said local officers kidnapped and sodomized Gill before shooting him dead on Jan. 9.
The victim’s father, Pervez Gill, told Compass that four policemen on Jan. 6 abducted his son without a warrant and without making any charges. He said higher level police officials took notice of their Jan. 11 protest and reluctantly filed charges against the four policemen, two of them identified as Muhammad Amir Butt and Muhammad Adeel Khatak of the Mehmoodabad police station in Jamshaid Town, Karachi. The First Information Report is No. 38/11 under the murder laws of Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code.
“Police are now threatening us and other Christians of Akhter Colony that we have to retract the charges,” Gill said, nearly in tears. “Police registered a case against the culprits, but they have not filed it under the proper parts of the section, which weakens the case, and police have done everything possible to save their fellow policemen.”
Gill said this police bias was the reason the other two officers named were still at large, with no action taken against them.
Pastor and 14 year old girl murdered in Colombia (CSW)
In yet another deadly attack on Christians, FARC guerrillas have shot and killed a fourteen-year-old girl who was a member of a Seventh Day Adventist Church at her home. The pastor of the church, Pastor Nieves, was later shot and killed, leaving behind his wife and two children.
Pastor Gualberto Nieves and fourteen-year-old girl assassinated by Colombian guerrillas
On Monday 2 May, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked a rural home of some members of Pastor Gualberto Nieves’ Seventh Day Adventist Church in Arauca. A fourteen year old girl, Mayerli Niño Blanco was shot and killed, leaving her siblings to walk three hours to the nearest farm to phone their father, who was travelling. He and Pastor Nieves immediately made their way to the farm on horseback, where Pastor Nieves was shot in the chest and killed instantly. Pastor Nieves is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
On Monday 2 May, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked a rural home of some members of Pastor Gualberto Nieves’ Seventh Day Adventist Church in Arauca. A fourteen year old girl, Mayerli Niño Blanco was shot and killed, leaving her siblings to walk three hours to the nearest farm to phone their father, who was travelling. He and Pastor Nieves immediately made their way to the farm on horseback, where Pastor Nieves was shot in the chest and killed instantly. Pastor Nieves is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
Armed attacks target Christians
Illegal armed groups including the FARC guerrillas make these attacks frequently, targeting pastors and Christians, forcing them to stop preaching, harassing them, disappearing them and murdering them. Earlier this year another pastor and his daughter were murdered outside an evangelical church by rightwing paramilitaries during a Sunday morning service*. Between 25 and 30 Colombian pastors are murdered by armed groups ever year, with more than 300 pastors killed since 2000. They are a target of the illegal armed groups because they promote a faith and lifestyle which directly conflicts with the values and aims of the armed groups.These latest stories show the constant threat that Christians are faced with and the importance for continued advocacy and support for pastors and Christians facing violent persecution.
Murdered: Ashur Issa Yaqub: Iraq (CDN)
The body of Chaldean Christian Ashur Issa Yaqub was found on Monday (May 16) with marks of severe torture and mutilation. He had worked as a construction worker from the northeastern city of Kirkuk, and al Qaeda members had demanded $100,000 for his release, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP)."It seems that the contractor that Ashur was working for was told he had to fire Ashur because he was Christian, but he refused," said the pastor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Because the contractor was rich and they couldn't do anything to him, they kidnapped Ashur, and unfortunately they killed him."
The 29-year-old Yaqub, whose surname is also spelled Jacob, is survived by his wife and three children. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako told Compass by phone from Rome that he was shocked to get the news of Yaqub's death.
Pastor's wife and Children murdered in Nigeria (CDN)
KURUM, Nigeria, May 10 (CDN) — As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”Muslim extremists who attacked Kurum village, in the Bogoro local government area of Nigeria’s Bauchi state, had already killed two of the couple’s children in a rampage that began Wednesday (May 4) at midnight. Rike, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in Kurum, next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum James Rike, a few yards away.“I rushed to my daughter, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her,” he said. “I held her hand and began to pray, knowing she too was about to die. She told me that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.”
The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children. Pastor Rike said that when the attackers reached his house, they tried to force their way into their bedrooms.“I opened a backdoor, and we ran out into the dark night while the militants pursued us,” he said. “They shot my wife and two of our kids as they tried to escape.”Pastor Rike said that after killing the two children, Faith James Rike and 1-year-old Fyali James Rike, the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete.
“I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “I knew my wife would not last long, and the only thing I did was to encourage her to hold on to her faith in Jesus.”The Muslim extremists set more than 20 houses ablaze before leaving the village, he said.Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and he said his adopted daughter, Whulham James Rike, was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro. He said five others others were also receiving hospital treatment.
Among those killed, church sources said, were Murna Ayuba; Angelina Ezekiel; Dorcas Sunday; Asabar Toma; Rhoda Joseph; Dhunhgwa Zakka; Bukata Amos; Ishaku Amos; Kalla Amos; Amos Daniel; Samidah Joel; and Changtan Joel.The Muslim jihadists also stole money and the other valuables from the Christian village as they withdrew, church sources said.
The area has a history of sectarian violence, and the attack follows the death of hundreds of people in Bauchi and other northern states last month after Muslims rioted over the April 16 election of a Christian, Goodluck Jonathan, as president. He defeated a Muslim candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. Saying more than 200 church buildings were burned, Christian leaders in northern Nigeria have called for a federal probe into the violence, in which Christians mounted counter attacks.Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution. The church where Pastor Rike ministers has about 30 members and has been in existence for more than 50 years. Those killed were members of the three churches in the village – the COCIN church, St. John’s Catholic Church and an Evangelical Church of West Africa congregation.
Pastor Rike said the incident has strengthened his faith in Jesus. “Whatever is the situation, I will never forsake Christ,” he said. “All human beings are created by God, and our attackers must know that they need to abandon anything that will lead them to destroy creations of God.”
Killed: 2 Christians: Baghdad
12/30/2010 Iraq (AFP) – At least two Christians were killed and 12 people wounded in a string of six attacks on Christian homes in Baghdad on Thursday, an interior ministry official said.The worst attack was in the central Baghdad district of Al-Ghadir, where a homemade bomb exploded around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), killing the two Christians and wounding three others, including one Christian, the official said.
The attacks started at 7:30 pm in six different parts of the capital as the Christian community is still reeling from a massacre at a Baghdad cathedral on October 31 in which 44 worshippers and two priests died.
Al-Ghadir is an area with a significant Christian population, though many have fled following the massacre and in light of threats by Al-Qaeda to target them.
Other blasts, also from homemade bombs, injured another nine Christians.
Murdered: Amina Muse Ali: Somalia (ICC)
Islamic militants in Somalia recently killed a Christian woman for refusing to wear a veil in public.Compass Direct News reported that three masked men shot 45-year-old Amina Muse Ali in her home on Oct. 19.Two weeks prior to her death, Ali reportedly informed local Christian leaders that she had received several threats from members of the Islamic group Suna Waljameca.
'My life is in danger," an anonymous source in Somalia quoted her as saying. "I am warned of dire consequences if I continue to live without putting on the veil. I need prayers from the fellowship.'"The source told Compass Direct they were "shocked beyond words" by the news of Ali's murder.
Hacked to death : 7 Christians: Nigeria (ICC)
Seven people were killed and at least four others were injured when armed Fulani Muslims attacked Rikwe Chengu Village in the Kwal District of Miango Bassa Local Government Area (LGA) in Plateau State on 2 December. The victims, including a two-month-old baby, were given a mass burial on 3 December.The attack took place between 10 pm and 11 pm, as villagers were sleeping. One eyewitness described how men dressed in camouflage fired shots to create panic while others set houses ablaze and attacked fleeing villagers. Five women and children were hacked down as they fled, while a mother and her child were burnt to death in their home. One villager lost his two-year-old daughter, six-year-old son and sister in law.
Please pray for Christians in Nigeria who live in minority Christian areas.
Murdered: Fady Walid Jibrai: Iraq (ICC)
Mosul, 1 Dec. (AKI) - A Christian shopkeeper has been killed in the northern Iraq city of Mosul amid a wave of violence against the religious minority, according to Christian Iraqi website Ankawa.Fady Walid Jibrai (26 years-old) was at work in a grocery shop on Tuesday when a group of armed men opened fire on him. It was the time in a week that a Christian had been the target of a fatal attack.Please pray for the thousands of christians still living in Iraq, Mosul. Please pray for their protection.
Murdered: Hakamat and Samira: Iraq (ICC/CNN)
Attackers gunned down an elderly Christian couple late Sunday inside their Baghdad home. Sources say that Hakamat Jiburi and his wife Samira were stabbed to death by Islamic radicals.The latest in a string of religious-rooted violence that has spurred international outcry and a full-court press for justice from Iraqi authorities.
Please continue to pray for Christians in Iraq as they are seen as legitimate targets for radical Islamic groups in the country.
Murdered: 17 year-old Christian Girl: Somalia (CDN)
A 17-year-old girl in Somalia who converted to Christianityfrom Islam was shot to death last week in an apparent “honor killing,” area sources said.Nurta Mohamed Farah, who had fled her village of Bardher, Gedo Region to Galgadud Region to live with relatives after her parents tortured her for leaving Islam, died on Nov. 25. Area sources said they strongly suspected that the two unidentified men in Galgadud Region who shot her in the chest and head with a pistol were relatives or acting on their behest.
“Reports reached the relatives in Galgadud that Nurta Farah had converted to Christianity,” one source said. “The suspicion that the family is responsible is a solid one. The sister was killed in Abudwaq, a district in Galgadud Region, and the place where the incident took place is about 200 meters from where the sister was staying with relatives.”
Relatives buried Farah, sources said. Her parents had severely beaten her for leaving Islam and regularly shackled her to a tree at their home, Christian sources said. She had been confined to her home in Gedo region in southern Somalia since May 10, when her family found out that she had embraced Christianity, said a Christian leader who visited the area (see “Family of 17-Year-Old Somali Girl Abuses Her for Leaving Islam,” June 15).
Her parents also took her to a doctor who prescribed medication for a “mental illness,” he said. Alarmed by her determination to keep her faith, her father, Hassan Kafi Ilmi, and mother, Hawo Godane Haf, decided she had gone crazy and forced her to take the prescribed medication, but it had no effect in swaying her from her faith, the source said.
