General

Iraqi Christians ask: Where were our Kurdish protectors when IS came?

November 22, 2016 Iraq Assyrians, Baghdad, Erbil, IDPs, Islamic State, Jordan, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh, Refugees, Tel Kaif

A young girl in a camp in Levo, northern Iraq, holds up a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. One question that still angers many of the Christians who fled northern Iraq as jihadists from Islamic State (IS) advanced on their towns and villages is, “Where were the Kurdish . . . Read More

Under the shadow of IS: Iraqi Christians tell of crucifixions, torture, sex slavery

November 21, 2016 Iraq Baghdad, Batnaya, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Refugees

Islamic State jihadists hung Karlus, 29, from the ceiling of the jail he was held in, by a rope attached to his left foot. As blood poured from his foot, they beat and kicked him, rubbing salt into his wounds.ADF International Islamic State (IS) jihadists hung Karlus, a 29-year-old . . . Read More

Report: ‘Bangladesh failing minorities targeted by Islamic extremists’

November 21, 2016 Bangladesh Al-Qaeda, Awami League, Dhaka, Islamic State

The wife, mother and children (L-R Nasima Akhter, Rahul Amin Azad, Esimon Begum, Ambia Begum, Hasina Begum) of murdered Christian convert Hossain Ali, hold his photograph. On 22 March, Ali was taking his usual morning walk when he was attacked and died. ISIS claimed responsibility for his murder. He converted . . . Read More

45 killed in yet another attack on Christian communities in Kaduna

November 19, 2016 Nigeria ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna

A spate of attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria last weekend left 45 dead and several more injured. The attacks took place in five villages in the Kauru Local Government Area, in the Middle Belt state of Kaduna – an area mostly populated by Christians, on Sunday 13 November. Most . . . Read More

75,000 children in N. Nigeria risk ‘dying of hunger’; 14 million need humanitarian aid, says UN

November 18, 2016 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Cameroon, Chad, Gwoza, IDPs, Niger, UN, Yobe

The UN says 75,000 children are at risk of dying of hunger in north-east Nigeria.Open Doors International Seventy-five thousand children are at risk of dying of hunger in north-east Nigeria, reports the UN, as the region deals with the aftermath of Boko Haram violence. The UN also says that . . . Read More

UPDATE: Ethiopian girls in prison for a book ‘countering attacks on Christianity’

November 16, 2016 Ethiopia Addis Ababa, Babile, Ethiopia, Harar

Three teenage Christian girls yesterday (15 Nov.) appeared in court in Babile, some 550km east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, charged with inciting religious violence. The girls, whose names were given as Eden, 15, Gifti, 14, and Mihiret, 14 – together with an older girl, named Deborah – were . . . Read More

‘Coming back’ – a poem scribbled on a church wall in Homs

November 15, 2016 Syria Homs, Maaloula

Time has almost faded the message written on a church wall in Homs by someone who, like thousands of others, presumably had to flee the city quickly for safety or survival. The Syrian city, 166km north of Damascus, was soon taken over by Islamic fighters. Fierce fighting made living in . . . Read More

Child marriage becoming a ‘cloud of crisis’ – N. Nigerian Christian leaders warn President

November 15, 2016 Bayelsa, Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Children, ECWA, Hisbah, Katsina, Marriage, Nigeria, Sharia, Sultan of Sokoto

When the Northern States’ Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) recently met President Buhari at his Presidential Villa (3 Nov), they asked him to warn Northern Nigeria’s traditional rulers against child marriage. They said the trend was already gathering “a cloud of crisis” and would cause a serious crisis if not . . . Read More

Moldova – striving to make a difference despite corruption and suspicion

November 14, 2016 Moldova Moldova, Russia, Soviet Union, Transnistria

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. To the east, cushioned between the Ukraine and Romania, and currently in the process of applying for European Union membership, it has this weekend decided its new President will be the pro-Russian candidate, who wants to reverse integration into the EU. (The winner, . . . Read More

‘So afraid I almost fainted’ – Iran Christian on brother’s arrest

November 11, 2016 Iran Converts, Evin Prison, Iran, Tehran

It was just another day at the office for accountant Sepideh*. The phone rang and Sepideh reached over her desk to answer it, not knowing that this call would be the start of years of worries. “Sepideh, quick!” The voice of her mother sounded nervous. “They arrested your brother and . . . Read More

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