Tag: Africa

DR Congo – Islamist militias threaten central Africa too

October 12, 2015 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Africa, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Beni, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eringeti, Islamic extremism, Oicha, Sharia

In Africa, it isn’t only in the west that Islamist insurgencies are posing a security threat. While attention has been focused on Nigeria’s radical Islamist group Boko Haram (whose attacks have spread to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger), a relatively unknown militant group has intensified attacks in the Democratic Republic . . . Read More

Migrants fear home, not death

April 20, 2015 Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Libya, Migrants, Nigeria, Refugees

Another 700 Africans attempting to reach Europe by boat are feared dead after their boat sank yesterday (19 April) 60 miles off the Libyan coast. At the time of writing, just 28 had been rescued by the Italian coastguard, and 24 bodies recovered. Record numbers of would-be migrants have drowned . . . Read More

Migrants thrown overboard in ‘religious hate’

April 17, 2015 Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Migrants, Nigeria, Refugees, Senegal, Syria

Twelve African Christians attempting to reach Europe by boat were allegedly thrown overboard because of “religious hate”. The 12, from Ghana and Nigeria, are all feared dead. Police arrested 15 Muslim migrants, from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea, on suspicion of murder after the boat reached the Italian . . . Read More

Paris attacks parallel fears over growing jihadist threat in Africa

January 14, 2015 Africa, Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Chibok girls, Diffa, France, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, NATO, Niger, Nigeria, Paris, Sub-Saharan Africa

Several African leaders, concerned by the rise of Islamism in the continent, attended the Paris anti-terror march, on Sunday, January 11th. Among the 50 foreign leaders who marched there, African heads of state included those from Mali, Niger, Senegal, Benin, Togo, and Gabon. They all expressed their sympathy to France . . . Read More

2014: A year of rising hostility toward Christians

January 7, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Asia, Boko Haram, Buddhist nationalism, Central African Republic, China, Communism, Converts, East Africa, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle Belt, Middle East, Narendra Modi, Nigeria, North Korea, Religious freedom, Sri Lanka, Sub-Saharan Africa, Syria

While the world’s eyes were riveted to Syria and Iraq in 2014, life for Christians worsened even more profoundly in Africa, according to an annual report on religious freedom. The situation deteriorated most rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries where Islamic extremism is the main source of pressure upon Christians, . . . Read More

Islamists want to ‘wipe out’ Christian presence in northern Mali

September 2, 2014 Mali Africa, Bamako, Gao, Islamic extremism, Mali, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

It’s not only in the Middle East that the advance of Islamist jihadists is exercising the international community. While attention has been focused on northern Iraq and Syria, the French government has been bombing Islamist militant positions in Africa to stop the emergence of jihadists in the Sahel. Now on . . . Read More

Nigeria largest displaced population in Africa

June 15, 2014 Nigeria Africa, Boko Haram, IDPs, Nigeria

A new report released last week by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre shows that Nigeria now has the largest internally displaced population in Africa. It also says there are about 3.3 million displaced people in Nigeria, due to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Boko . . . Read More

A test of freedoms in Brazil

June 4, 2014 Africa, Brazil, Censorship, Religious freedom

Brazil, a county that by some measures has the most religious freedom in the world, is grappling with a court case pitting religious intolerance against freedom of speech. The controversy began with 16 videos on You Tube that public prosecutors claim encourage discrimination toward Africa-based religions. It grew in May . . . Read More

Christian deaths double in 2014 World Watch List

January 8, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Angola, Central African Republic, Churches, Egypt, India, Kidnapping, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Rape, Religious freedom, Syria

Nearly twice as many Christians died for their faith in the past year than in 2012, according to Open Doors International’s 2014 World Watch List. Open Doors International, a charity that supports Christians under pressure for their faith, said 2,123 Christians were reported to have been killed during the 12 . . . Read More

Book review: ‘The Global War on Christians’

November 19, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Asia, Buddhist nationalism, Burundi, Colombia, Eastern Europe, Eritrea, Hindu nationalism, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Latin America, Middle East, Organised crime, Philippines

It has been an astonishing last 12 months for books on the persecution of Christians when there has been such silence on the issue for so long. First came ‘Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack’ in late 2012; then the more simply titled, ‘Persecuted: the Global Assault on Christians’ in March . . . Read More

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