General

Autonomous Nineveh ‘would preserve Christians and secure West’s interests’

September 14, 2016 Iraq Ankawa, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains

A “protected area” should be set aside for minorities, including Christians, in Iraq’s north-east Nineveh plains after the ‘Islamic State’ has been defeated, a US advocacy group has argued. The group, In Defense of Christians (IDC), made the suggestion at the National Convention (7-9 September) in Washington DC. IDC hopes . . . Read More

Turkmenistan: No change soon for religious minorities after Consitution amended

September 14, 2016 Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Turkmenistan has approved a constitutional amendment that will allow its President to rule for as long as he likes. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ruled Turkmenistan since 2006. His predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, died while still in office at the age of 66 – he was President for 21 years, during which time . . . Read More

What next for India’s beleaguered Christian minority?

September 12, 2016 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

Fifty religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim minorities in India met together last week to discuss the religious freedom challenges facing both groups under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Christians are “facing physical, symbolic and structural violence” from Hindu extremists across the country, said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj at . . . Read More

‘Part of our heart is missing’: parents of girl held by IS

September 9, 2016 Iraq Christina Abada, Islamic State, Qaraqosh, Trauma

Ayda relives that most horrible moment daily, even though it took place two years ago. During a ‘medical check-up’ in the north-eastern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, militants from the ‘Islamic State’ took interest in her three-year-old daughter, Christina. Suddenly, they snatched the child out of her arms and gave the crying . . . Read More

Rising Islamist militancy across Sahel belt threatens African Christianity

September 8, 2016 Agadez, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

More than 70 churches, as well as Christian homes, schools and orphanages,were burned down by Islamists in Niger in January 2015.World Watch Monitor As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor: ‘It will be even worse after Karimov’

September 7, 2016 Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan

An Uzbek church leader has said he fears life will be even harder for minority Christians after the death of Islam Karimov, the country’s President since 1989. Karimov, who was installed during the Soviet era, was eventually confirmed to have died on 2 September, after a week of speculation following . . . Read More

Funeral held for Pakistani Christian killed in Peshawar attack

September 6, 2016 Pakistan Peshawar, Sweepers, Warsak Dam

The main gate to the Warsak Dam Christian Colony, where Samuel Masih, 55, was killed.World Watch Monitor A funeral was held on Saturday (3 Sep.) for the Christian cleaner killed during the 2 Sep. attack on a Christian colony in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan. Four suicide bombers carrying automatic weapons were . . . Read More

In violence-racked Baghdad, the few Christians still there struggle to cope

September 6, 2016 Iraq Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Ramadan

At the height of its scorching summer, Iraq saw its worst attack since the Allied Forces ousted Saddam in 2003. Some 324 people lost their lives when a van exploded in the bustling al-Karada neighbourhood of Baghdad – during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. The 3 July destruction claimed by . . . Read More

Pakistan: One killed after attack on Christian colony

September 2, 2016 Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mardan, Peshawar, Taliban, Warsak Dam

One person was killed and two policemen injured after an early morning attack on a Christian colony near the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar. Four suicide bombers carrying automatic weapons were waiting at the gate to the colony, which was locked every night. When Samuel Masih, 55, opened the gate on his . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal

September 2, 2016 Uzbekistan Andijan, Asylum seekers, Central Asia, Fergana Valley, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Migrants, Refugees, Soviet Union, USA, Uzbekistan

Finally, their journey is over. Three years since fleeing Uzbekistan – following four years in a labour camp, house arrest and death threats – Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has arrived in the United States, where he and his family have been granted asylum. It’s been almost 10 years since Shestakov was . . . Read More

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