Only a handful of countries have a lower per-capita GDP than Burkina Faso, yet it carried itself through a peaceful election following a 2014 coup. The constitution promises religious freedom, and religious organisations must register with the government. Even as the Muslim population increased rapidly, little had happened in Burkina Faso to mark it as especially hostile to Christians. That changed in January 2016, when elements associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb attacked a hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, killing 29 people, including seven Christians in the country on humanitarian missions. The BBC reported that the attack “would seem to be an attempt by AQIM not just to reinforce itself as the main jihadist group in the region, but also to show that it can spread its violent campaign to new frontiers”. (Photo: Hugues via Flickr; CC)
Burkina Faso: Fulani pastor brings hope to stigmatised communities
The disproportionate presence of ethnic Fulani among Islamist militants wreaking havoc in the Sahel and West Africa has led to a stigmatisation of the Fulani generally, says a Protestant pastor from Burkina Faso. In April security forces went into Djibo, a town in the northern part of Burkina Faso and […]
Burkina Faso: 5 leaders killed in 3 months as Islamists continue to target churches
At least ten more Christians have been killed as a spate of attacks on churches continues in northern Burkina Faso. The ten, who died in two attacks on 12 and 13 May, include another Catholic priest, Siméon Yampa. On Monday, 13 May, a procession of four Catholics was attacked while […]
Burkina Faso church leader killed by Islamists: ‘I’d rather die than leave my community’
Gunmen who attacked a Protestant church in Burkina Faso on 28 April asked the pastor and five others to convert to Islam before they killed them, World Watch Monitor has learned. Last Sunday’s violence in the West African country appears to have been the first attack, specifically on a church […]
1,000 days since kidnap of 84-year-old doctor in Burkina Faso, family plead for his release
It’s over 1,000 days now since an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, was kidnapped in Djibo, Burkina Faso, on 15 January, 2016. His abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Dr. Elliott, with his wife, had run a 120-bed clinic in […]
Families left confused after reported release of Burkina Faso Christians turns out to be false
A Burkina Faso pastor and seven other Christians reportedly released by their kidnappers one month ago are in fact still in captivity, World Watch Monitor has been told by the pastor’s eldest son. Pastor Pierre Boéna was kidnapped by armed men on 3 June – alongside his younger son, daughter-in-law, […]
Burkina Faso: Kidnappers release pastor and his family after four days
The pastor abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released. Local sources told Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo, were released yesterday (7 June). The report did not specifically mention the two granddaughters, Fasne-wendé […]
Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso
A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday 3 June […]
Burkina Faso: concerns over reported rise in extremism
Christian and Muslim leaders in Burkina Faso met last week to discuss interreligious dialogue amidst growing concerns about the spread of violent Islamic extremism in the country, reports Fides. The landlocked West African nation, which borders Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is majority-Muslim (around 60%), but also […]
Burkina Faso: 2 years on, thousands call for release of ‘doctor of the poor’ by Al-Qaeda offshoot
Thousands took to the streets of Djibo, a northern town in Burkina Faso, on Monday (15 January) to call for the government to secure the release of an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, kidnapped two years ago. The abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda […]
Burkina Faso: citizenship for kidnapped Australian
An Australian surgeon kidnapped by jihadists in Burkina Faso nearly a year ago, and whose whereabouts remain unknown, has been declared a citizen of the West African nation, an official decree announced on Wednesday (17 Nov.). Ken Elliot was abducted along with his wife Jocelyn in January 2016 by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists […]