Archive for September, 2008
Church Attacked for the Second Time in Somalia
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - A Muslim mob has once again attacked a house church in Tayeglow, a town 198 miles from Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.
According to the Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org , dozens of Muslims, including children and women, demolished the church and attacked the Christians worshipping at the church with spears, machetes, sticks and stones. Two elders of the church, Mr. Faysal Amin, 50, and Mr. Mubarak Hussein, 45 [not real names for security reasons], suffered serious injuries as a result of the attack. Read the rest of this entry »
Islamists Attack Church in Northern Kenya
Compass Direct News reports that:
A longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya’s northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins.
The gang stormed the building of Redeemed Gospel Church on Sept. 14 and pelted the congregation with stones, sending many Christians fleeing while others became embroiled in fistfights. Ten Christians received hospital treatment for minor injuries and were released. Read the rest of this entry »
Attacks Continue on Churches in India
By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News Service
INDIA (ANS)- Despite a promise of security from the Chief Minister of the Government of Karnataka, Christians are being attacked by Hindu radicals, and their churches vandalized.
According to a story on www.persecution.in, the violence has also spread to the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
According to the web site, a church was attacked and burned in Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore, at about 10.30 p.m. on Sept. 26.
The incident occurred after a prayer meeting. A small number of Hindu radicals attacked Gospel Bethel Assembly of God Church, doused the facility with kerosene and burned Bibles, hymn books and the pulpit.
Neighbors responded quickly and managed to douse the blaze.
The story reported that a complaint was filed the following morning at Yelahanka New Town police station.
In another incident on the same day, Hindu radicals broke open the glass of Our Lady’s Grotto at the Sacred Heart Church at Shambur in Bantwal Taluk late Friday night
According to www.persecution.in, two attacks on churches took place in Tamil Nadu. Tarteted were St. Xavier’s Church in Nagercoil and St. Aloysius Church in Erode.
In Erode, Dharapuram town, Western Tamil Nadu, a church was vandalized by radicals in the early morning hours of Sept 26. The story said the front part of the church was destroyed.
In addition, a statue of the infant Jesus kept in the damaged area of the church sustained minor damages. A report was filed, but no arrests had been made at the time of writing.
The story also reported that a similar incident was reported from Kanniykumari District, where vandals damaged a statue of the Virgin Mary in St. Xavier’s Church in Nagercoil
Also according to www.persecution.in, in Kerala State, a church was reportedly attacked and its windows broken near Alleppey on Sept 24.
Laos Village to Expell 55 Christians
Compass Direct News reports that
The chief of Boukham village in Savannakhet province, Laos, on Friday (Sept. 19) called a special community meeting to resolve the “problem” of eight resident Christian families who have refused to give up their faith. The meeting concluded with plans to expel all 55 Christians from the village.
Although all adult members of a village are usually invited to such meetings, on this occasion the Christians were deliberately excluded, according to rights group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).
Pastor Sompong Supatto, 32, and two other believers from the village, Boot Chanthaleuxay, 18, and Khamvan Chanthaleuxay, also 18, remain in detention in the nearby Ad-Sapangthong district police detention cell. HRWLRF earlier reported that police have held the men in handcuffs and wooden foot stocks since their arrest on Aug. 3, causing numbness and infection in their legs and feet due to lack of blood circulation.
Authorities have said they will release the three only if they renounce their faith.
Read the full story at Compass Direct News.