Burkina Faso: The danger for Christians has intensified

Aid to the Church in Need reported on 5 November 2021 that a group of Christians is being hunted down by jihadists. According to the report, a group of 147 Christians - including children, elderly and eight pregnant women - fled from two villages on the Niger border at the end of October 2021, after Islamist fighters sought to kill them. Local sources reported that insurgents enter villages to demand taxes per head of cattle and have recently begun asking whether the cattle herders are Christian or Muslim, so that the Christians can be killed. World Watch Research analyst Yonas Dembele comments: "Burkina Faso has experienced several Islamist attacks in recent years, especially in the northern region and occasionally in the capital. These militants aim to "˜Islamize" the country and Christians are at high risk. Although state forces are trying to prevent ‚ the attacks by jihadists from spreading, Christians - particularly in the north of the country - continue to suffer from a serious lack of security. With the government launching a new national strategy to fight terrorism, it is hoped that the security situation will improve (Africanews, 13 October 2021)."