General

Grenade attack on church in Kenya kills one

April 29, 2012 Kenya Kenya, Nairobi

A grenade explosion yesterday killed a 27-year-old university student at a church in Nairobi and injured 16 people, sources said. Kelvin Walumba was killed after a man pretending to be a worshipper at God’s House of Miracles International Church in the Ngara area of Nairobi threw three grenades as the . . . Read More

Hindu villagers attack mourners in India

April 27, 2012 India Burial, Chhattisgarh, India

Hindu extremists trying to stop the burial of a convert to Christianity last week in Chhattisgarh state beat a pastor and other Christians, including children and two 60-year-old women who fell unconscious, sources told World Watch Monitor. Jaikant Pawar, 31, of Balgal village, Kanker district, died on April 20 en . . . Read More

Christian’s six-year sentence upheld

April 27, 2012 Egypt Asyut, Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A judge in Upper Egypt has upheld a six-year prison sentence for a Coptic Christian wrongly convicted of “blasphemy” against Islam and inciting sectarian strife, his lawyer said. The judge in Assuit on April 5 refused to strike down a Feb. 29 sentence delivered to Makarem Diab, 49, of the . . . Read More

Kidnapped Swiss Christian freed amid Mali’s unrest

April 27, 2012 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Berbers, Gao, Kidal, Mali, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Separatist Islamist rebels released a Swiss Christian woman kidnapped by a private militia on April 15 amid political turmoil in Timbuktu, Mali, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement. Armed members of the militant Islamic group Ansar Dine handed Beatrice Stockly to Swiss diplomats on Tuesday (April 24), Reuters reported. . . . Read More

Bible school, church buildings attacked in Sudan

April 26, 2012 Sudan Darfur, Episcopal Church of Sudan, Islamic extremism, Khartoum, Nyala, Omar al-Bashir, Omdurman, South Sudan, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church

Christians faced increased hostilities in Sudan over the past few weeks, culminating in an attack on a Christian compound in Khartoum by a throng of Muslim extremists armed with clubs, iron rods, a bulldozer and fire. Breaking down the compound wall with a bulldozer, the assailants on Saturday (April 21) . . . Read More

Authorities plan to eradicate house churches

April 25, 2012 China China, Communism, House churches, Shouwang Church, Three-Self Patriotic Movement

China’s government is engaged in a three-phase campaign to eradicate Protestant house churches, according to a statement released Friday (April 20) by the China Aid Association (CAA). The government’s strategy was clearly outlined in a document released last September during a training class for “Patriots in the Christian Community” run . . . Read More

Bombers attack centre in Christian area of Jos

April 25, 2012 Nigeria ECWA, Jos, Nigeria, Plateau

One person was killed and nine others were injured last night after suspected Islamic extremists attacked a TV viewing center in a Christian area of Jos where a crowd had gathered to watch soccer. At about 10:15 p.m. at the viewing center, one of many such establishments popular in Nigeria . . . Read More

Muslim assailants in Egypt escape prosecution

April 20, 2012 Egypt Aswan, Education, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak

A recent “reconciliation meeting” between members of a Muslim mob that attacked a Christian-owned school in Egypt and school administrators was nothing less than an attempt at legalized extortion, the director of the school said. In exchange for peace, members of the sword-wielding mob that stormed the school last month . . . Read More

South Sudanese Christians trapped in hostile North

April 19, 2012 Sudan Islamic extremism, Khartoum, Kosti, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan

As tensions between Sudan and South Sudan turn into military combat on the border, predominantly Christian citizens of southern origin trapped in Sudan fear the Islamic government and Muslims in general will turn on them, sources told World Watch Monitor. Officially foreigners though many of the half million southern Sudanese . . . Read More

Attacked Turkish pastor joins in memorials for slain Christians

April 18, 2012 Turkey Malatya, Mardin, Turkey

After a memorial service for three Christians who were murdered in Malatya, Turkey five years ago today, an Istanbul pastor who was attacked over Easter weekend said he’s experienced hostility from Muslims nearly all his life. Semir Serkek, 58, pastor of Grace Church in Istanbul’s Bahcelievler district, said he personally . . . Read More

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