News

Two churches targeted in bomb attack in Nigeria

  February 21, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Churches, Enugu, Goodluck Jonathan, Kano, Lagos, Nigeria, Zaria

Suspected Islamic extremists detonated a bomb outside a church building here on Sunday (Feb. 19), two months after Boko Haram Islamists killed 44 Christians and blinded seven in a church bombing in nearby Madalla. Sunday’s blast in Suleja, in front of Christ Embassy church during their morning worship, injured five . . . Read More

Churches forced to stop Farsi worship in Tehran, Iran

  February 17, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Armenians, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Behnam Irani, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Shiraz, Tehran

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran to discontinue them. Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter’s Evangelical Church were the last two official churches offering Farsi-language services on Fridays in Tehran, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials issued . . . Read More

Accused pastor in Kashmir, India given reprieve

  February 16, 2012 India Baptism, Converts, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Sharia

A court has ordered the Jammu and Kashmir state government to temporarily halt criminal proceedings against a pastor accused of bribing Muslim youths to convert to Christianity. The state’s High Court on Saturday (Feb. 11) halted proceedings in the police complaint of “promotion of religious enmity by conversions” against the . . . Read More

Priests released amid wave of abductions in Sudan

  February 15, 2012 Sudan Episcopal Church of Sudan, Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir, Sharia, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan

Two Catholic priests abducted at gunpoint in Rabak, Sudan last month have been released amid a wave of forcible conscriptions into rebel southern militias. Their captors – South Sudanese militiamen loyal to (north) Sudan’s Islamic government – accused the Rev. Joseph Makwey and the Rev. Sylvester Mogga of ties to . . . Read More

Turkish Christians subject to discrimination, attacks, report says

  February 14, 2012 Turkey Education, Malatya, Protestants, Turkey

Despite some promising developments, Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group. In its annual “Report on Human Rights Violations,” released in January, the country’s Association . . . Read More

Authorities raid house church in Shiraz

  February 10, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Behnam Irani, Farshid Fathi, House churches, Iran, Khuzestan, Shiraz

Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources. Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said. The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to . . . Read More

Islamic extremists behead another convert

  February 8, 2012 Somalia Al-Shabaab, Converts, Islamic extremism, Mogadishu, Somalia

Islamic extremists from the rebel al Shabaab militia in Somalia beheaded a Christian on the outskirts of Mogadishu last month, sources said. The militants fighting the transitional government in Mogadishu murdered Zakaria Hussein Omar, 26, on Jan. 2 in Cee-carfiid village, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) outside of the Somali . . . Read More

Missionary couple killed, peace pact in Puebla

  February 3, 2012 Mexico Baptists, Catholics, Coahuila, Mexico, Mexico City, Missionaries, Organised crime, Protestants, Puebla

A married couple who had served for 28 years as Baptist missionaries in Mexico were murdered on Tuesday (Jan. 31) at their home near Monterrey in El Cercado, Santiago, Nuevo Leon. John Casias, 76, and Wanda Casias, 67, were strangled with electrical cords when intruders broke into their house and . . . Read More

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

  February 1, 2012 India Andhra Pradesh, Bajrang Dal, Bangalore, Hindu nationalism, India, Karnataka, Odisha, RSS

A Hindu extremist in Adigar, Phulbani, Kandhamal district on Jan. 25 attacked a pastor’s hut and harassed his family, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). Jaleshwar Pradhan threw stones at the home of Pastor Patiba Mohan Kota while he was away, verbally abused his wife and pushed . . . Read More

Christian charged with ‘blasphemy’ denied bail

  January 30, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan

A judge has denied bail to a young Christian man charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws despite the lack of evidence against him, sources said. Police in Shahdara, near Lahore, had arrested 23-year-old Khuram Masih on Dec. 5 and charged him with desecrating the Quran after . . . Read More