Mali: Wave of attacks on Catholic churches

September proved to be a month of attacks on Roman Catholic churches in Mali, as reported by World Watch Monitor on 4 October 2017. Whereas in some places, armed groups broke into churches and burned various items, in other areas the gunmen forced worshipers out of churches and threatened them with death if they continued to use the church. A senior Catholic spokesman stated: "Security has deteriorated dramatically in recent months in central Mali, where Islamic armed groups are rampant." Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, is alarmed: "The combined presence of a UN peacekeeping force, local security personnel and the Malian army has not been able to neutralize the activities of militant Islamic groups in the northern part of the country and these attacks show that their reach is now extending south into the central part of Mali. The security situation in Mali is still dangerous for Christians and Islamic militants are apparently still free to target and attack Christians at will."