Displaying items by tag: attack
Ethiopia: over 200 killed in massacre
An ongoing civil war threatens to tear Ethiopia apart. The latest event is a massacre of over 200 members of the Amhara ethnic group on 19 June. Witnesses claim the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a group authorised by the government, was responsible. The OLA denied carrying out the killings, claiming it was committed by a militia group aligned with prime minister Abiy Ahmed and his regional government. The northern region of Tigray saw a rebellion in 2020; this massacre is the worst since then. No one is innocent in this ongoing civil war - both sides have committed mass killings, sexual violence, and ethnic cleansing. The Tigray Liberation Front has joined forces with the OLA against the government on many occasions. Mr Abiy faces many challenges trying to consolidate power among the many ethnic groups, especially the Amharas. Please pray for the different ethnic groups to realise they must work together for peace in nonviolent ways.
Twelve Christians attacked by almost 300
A mob of 300 chanting ‘Hail Lord Ram! Victory to Lord Ram’ attacked the House of Prayer church, destroying CCTV cameras, lights, fans, musical instruments and furniture. Eva Lance, the church leader, tried to call the police but couldn’t connect. The mob tried to set fire to vehicles parked outside and attacked twelve church members. One man was beaten semi-unconscious, a woman’s hair was pulled out and a young boy was found lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit after having his ears cut off and being badly beaten. He was hospitalised. The police opened an investigation naming Eva’s former school principal and a member of a right-wing Hindu group among those responsible. Then the mob filed a counter case against the victims, accusing them of non-bailable offences like molestation, robbery and organised crime. Christian Solidarity Worldwide said the involvement of the police and community leaders in this attack must be a wake-up call to India’s lawmakers.
Nigeria: 'Incessant killing more dangerous than Coronavirus'
Report on Nigeria to UK Parliament
“The incessant killing is more dangerous than Coronavirus” …The words of a community leader in central Nigeria – after coronavirus had reached his country – after an April attack in which nine people died, including a pregnant woman and her three year old.
His reaction is one of several testimonies – frequently harrowing to read, let alone to have experienced – that feature in an Inquiry into the scale of death and destruction caused by conflict occurring along the Christian-Muslim faultline running across the ‘Middle Belt’ of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
The Inquiry is published today, 15 June, by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief of the UK Parliament; it has been taking evidence since autumn 2018.
(However, since the Coronavirus pandemic, violence appears to have grown even as international media have been otherwise occupied).
“APPG members have been alarmed by the dramatic and escalating violence in Nigeria characterised as the farmer-herder conflict. This violence has manifested along ideological lines, as the herders are predominantly ethnic Fulani Muslims and the farmers are predominantly Christians. There has been significant debate about what factors are driving and exacerbating this crisis. Therefore, the APPG launched a parliamentary inquiry to help develop a nuanced understanding of the drivers of violence”.
The resulting report ‘Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide?’ points out that the violence has claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. It has caused untold human and economic devastation and heightened existing ethno-religious tensions. “The [age old farmer-herder] conflict has evolved from spontaneous reactions to provocations and now to deadlier planned attacks” it quotes the International Crisis Group as saying.
Despite the scale of the violence, the conflict is much less well known internationally than the 10 year long Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed over 30,000 lives (112 Chibok girls are still ‘missing’ after 6 years) and now its offshoot Islamic State West African Province’s (ISWAP) atrocities. These also feature in the APPG report and appear to have escalated in recent weeks and months. (In the latest Boko Haram-linked incidents this past week, over a hundred have died and hundreds more been injured; a UN humanitarian hub and a police station were reported burned down).
However, this APPG report echoes the Global Terrorist Index (GTI) 2019 by the Institute for Economics and Peace, which indicates that the primary driver of the increase in violence in sub-Saharan Africa is a rise in activity in Nigeria attributed, not to Boko Haram, ISWAP or Ansar ul Islam, but to Fulani militant extremists. In 2018, it appears Fulani extremists were responsible for the majority of terror-related deaths in Nigeria.
Its geographical footprint is also larger, with conflict manifesting in more States.[1] According to global NGO, Search for Common Ground (SfCG), “between 1 January 2019 and 1 January 2020, inter-communal violence represented the most severe threat to civilian lives in Nigeria.”[2]
In his report for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office a year ago, the Bishop of Truro concluded “the religious dimension is a significantly exacerbating factor” in clashes between farmers and herders and “targeted violence against Christian communities in the context of worship suggests that religion plays a key part.”[3]
The Nigerian Government’s attempts to resolve the ethno-religious conflict have been ineffective; there seems to be no end in sight. The long-term consequences of failure to reduce the violence are severe, says the Inquiry: “There is the enormous cost in terms of human lives but there is also the potential for economic collapse, famine, further mass displacement of civilians and even more conflict, as the two major religious groups in the country become increasingly polarised”.
Pray: that the perpetrators of these atrocities will be brought to justice.
Pray: for the victims and families of these terrorist attacks.
Pray: for a breakthrough in the efforts of the Nigerian government to broker lasting peace in the region.
Pray: that the world community will come together to bring about pressure on the Nigerian politicians to deal with the situation at all levels.
Pray: against the powers of darkness that they will be overcome IJN.
Afghanistan: IS attack US military base
IS has taken credit for an attack on 8 April on the largest US military base in Afghanistan - Bagram airfield, near Kabul. The attack came as 100 Taliban prisoners were released, as a prerequisite for peace talks. More prisoners should be released near the Bagram base. The government is required to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, with the Taliban releasing 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces. There is disagreement over the procedure, as to whether senior Taliban commanders would be covered by the deal.
Nigeria: Trump Honours Muslim Cleric Who Saved 262 Christians From Death
"The Trump administration honored a Nigerian Muslim Imam last week among its first-ever International Religious Freedom Award winners for his efforts that saved hundreds of Christians during a 2018 terrorist attack," reports LifeSiteNews.
"Imam Abubakar Abdullahi of Nigeria selflessly risked his own life to save members of another religious community, who would have likely been killed without his intervention," the proclamation from the U.S. Department of State said.
Abdullahi had hidden 262 Christians in his home and mosque during a terrorist attack, when, "On June 23, 2018, ethnic Fulani herdsmen, who are predominantly Muslim, launched coordinated attacks on 10 villages in Barkin Ladi, killing hundreds of ethnic Berom farmers, who are predominantly Christian."
The 83-year-old cleric was one of five people honored at a July 17 ceremony with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and International Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback.
The State Department proclamation additionally states:
As Imam Abdullahi was finishing midday prayers, he and his congregation "heard gunshots and went outside to see members of the town’s Christian community fleeing," the State Department added. "Instinctively, the Imam ushered 262 Christians into the mosque and his home next to the mosque. The Imam then went outside to confront the gunmen and he refused to allow them to enter, pleading with them to spare the Christians inside, even offering to sacrifice his life for theirs. Although the gunmen killed 84 people in Nghar village that day, Imam Abdullahi’s actions saved the lives of hundreds more.
"Instinctively, the imam gave refuge to his Christian neighbors, sheltering 262 Christians in his mosque and his home," Brownback told those attending the award ceremony. "Imam Abdullahi stood outside the doors confronting the Muslim attackers, pleading with them to spare the lives of the Christians inside, even offering to exchange his own life for theirs."
"His actions bear witness to true courage, true selflessness, and true brotherly love," stated Brownback.
[Dr. Chaps' comment: Love is a universal religion, and I respect this man who rejected the false prophet's teaching to slay the infidels (Christians) and instead protected them. Now let's stop funding radical Islamists who kill Christians.
TODAY AT OUR WEDNESDAY PRAYER MEETING IN COLORADO SPRINGS, WE DECLARED THAT WE STAND AROUND TOP LEADERS OF OUR NATION PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT POMPEO, Sam Brownback, RAISE OUR SHIELDS OF FAITH TO PROTECT THESE GODLY MEN. IF AN OLD IMAM COULD SAVE 262 LIVES, GOD WILL PROTECT OUR LEADERS AS WE STAND FOR THEM IN PRAYER.
WE KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY ENEMIES SURROUND OUR LEADERS.
TC Kim - Facilitator
Transform USA
More at:http://www.transformusa.org
More than 60 dead as Boko Haram extremists target funeral in Nigeria
The latest atrocity is believed to be in retaliation to an incident when villagers fought off a Boko Haram attack two weeks ago.
The attack on civilians is the deadliest in the region so far this year.
Eleven other people were wounded during the midday attack in Budu near Maiduguri on Saturday, according to Muhammad Bulama, council chairman of the Nganzai local government area.
Bunu Bukar, secretary of self-defence group Borno Hunters Association, said the extremists were on motorbikes and opened fire on villagers.
He added that his colleagues had recovered nearly two dozen bodies.
Mr Bulama said the atrocity was in retaliation to an incident when villagers fought off a Boko Haram attack in the area two weeks ago.
Last week Nigerians marked the 10th anniversary of the Boko Haram insurgency which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises.
The extremists have carried out mass abductions of schoolgirls and deployed young women and men in suicide vests to attack markets, mosques and other highly populated areas.
Their aim is to impose strict Islamic rule in the region.
Boko Haram have broadened their attacks and carried out atrocities in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
Reporting by Sky News
Pray: For the military and intelligence services to root out and bring these militants to justice.
Pray: For the victims and their families – for healing and comfort in their grief.
Pray: For an end to this ongoing campaign by Boko Haram.
Egypt: extremist attacks church workers
Wielding an iron bar in one hand and holding a Quran in the other, a 22-year-old Muslim extremist shouting ‘Allahu Akbar - death to the apostates’ broke into an eastern Cairo church in an early morning attack on 11 November. He assaulted staff preparing bread for morning communion. After injuring two people with his weapon, he was overpowered by church members who restrained him until police arrived. He showed no remorse in police custody, shouting, ‘Give me your gun so I may kill them. If you don’t, you’d be an infidel like them.’ Egyptian churches are becoming targeted more frequently. On Palm Sunday 2017, suicide attacks on churches in Tanta and Alexandria claimed the lives of 50 and injured 90. Pray for the protection of all Christians from such attacks, especially at Christmas.