General

20+ Nigerian Christians drown in river attempting to escape Fulani attackers

September 21, 2018 Nigeria Adamawa, Fulani herdsmen, Nigeria

A pastor was one of at least 27 people who lost their lives following fresh attacks carried out by Fulani militants on five predominantly Christian communities in northeast Nigeria in recent days. Many of them drowned as they attempted to escape via the local river. Various sources contacted by World . . . Read More

Abduction of Italian priest shocks Niger

September 20, 2018 Niger Kidnapping, Mahamadou Issoufou, Missionaries, Niamey, Niger, Pier Luigi Maccalli

Italian priest Pier Luigi Maccalli, freed in Mali, worked in SW Niger till his kidnap in Sep 2018

In Niger, the abduction of an Italian priest in the southwest of the country has left the communities he served for 11 years in shock and sorrow. Fr. Pier Luigi Maccalli, 57, was kidnapped by unknown armed men on Monday night in his parish of Bamoanga, about 125km from the . . . Read More

Boko Haram kills midwife, threatens to kill other hostages, including Leah Sharibu, unless demands met

September 18, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Islamic State, Leah Sharibu, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, UN

Boko Haram has killed an aid worker and threatened to kill three other hostages, including the Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu. Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, 25, who worked as midwife with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had been abducted on 1 March, alongside two other health workers, when . . . Read More

‘Being Burmese means being Buddhist’ – pastor explains discrimination faced by Christians in Myanmar

September 17, 2018 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Minorities, Myanmar

The discrimination a Christian can meet on a daily basis in Myanmar is explained by Tun from the Chin ethnic minority. He left his town in Chin state and moved his family to another area to pastor a small group of Christians in a predominantly Buddhist village. His name is . . . Read More

Central African Republic: Dozens feared dead after massacre in Bria

September 17, 2018 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bria, Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Seleka

In Central African Republic, dozens of people are feared killed after suspected Islamist rebels attacked a group of civilians in the central town of Bria earlier this month. Early reports suggested that between 12 to 14 people were killed during the attack on 4-5 September, but local sources contacted by . . . Read More

Attacks against Copts ‘among deadliest acts of religious persecution’ – report

September 14, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Copts, Egypt, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Lake Chad, Sahel, Somalia, Syria, Tony Blair, Women, Yemen

This is one of the fifty five photos that is part of the photo story "Renewed day by day," commissioned by World Watch Monitor, exploring the extensive damage to churches in Egypt's Minya region that took place in late August 2013.

Attacks by members of the Islamic State group against Egypt’s Coptic Christian community “were among the deadliest acts of religious persecution” last year, according a new report presented in Washington DC yesterday, 13 September. “Fifty-three per cent of ISIS attacks against the public in 2017 were aimed at the Coptic . . . Read More

Nigeria: Dozens more killed as Fulani herdsmen violence continues in Plateau state

September 14, 2018 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau

In Nigeria, dozens lost their lives during the first week of September as Fulani militants continued their killing spree in the central state of Plateau. Last month, more than 20 people – including a pastor and four members of his family – were killed in various raids attributed to Fulani . . . Read More

Fall in Christian refugee admissions ‘suggests Trump has no real interest in religious persecution’

September 13, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Donald Trump, Genocide, Iraq, Jan Figel, Mike Pence, Minorities, Myanmar, Refugees, Syria, UK, UN, USA

Iraqi Christians who fled Islamic State have found shelter in a church yard in Erbil, Iraq. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The United States, under President Trump, has admitted 40 per cent fewer Christian refugees in the past year, US broadcaster NBC News has reported. As the Trump administration has implemented stricter policies on immigration and refugees, almost 11,000 Christians looking for a safe place to go were reportedly refused entry to . . . Read More

Closed churches force Copts to hold funerals in the streets

September 12, 2018 Egypt Asyut, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya

Coptic Christians in various parts of Egypt have been left with no choice but to hold funeral services in the streets because of the closure of their churches. Coptic news site Watani reported on a street funeral last week in the village of Dimshau Hashim, in Minya governorate, where the . . . Read More

Syrian village bombed: five children under 15 – three from same family – among 12 killed

September 11, 2018 Syria Al-Qaeda, Children, Civil War, Free Syrian Army, Greek Orthodox, Homs, Idlib, Syria

The children were still playing in the streets on Friday night. Then the rebels bombed the village. On Saturday, they should have celebrated a wedding in Mhardeh, a Christian village in northwest Syria. Instead they had to carry ten of their own to the grave; two more later died in . . . Read More

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