Four Pakistani Youth Face Death Sentence For ‘Blasphemy’
Uncertainty remained Thursday about the plight of four youths after a Pakistani court sentenced them to death for committing “blasphemy” against Islam on social media, several sources said.
Christian Persecution
China: CCP continues crackdown on churches
China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its years-long program of suppressing Christianity in the country: Last month, authorities arrested and detained a Christian leader and shut down two churches, the Bitter Winter rights group reports.
Indonesia: House church threatened by Muslim extremists with machete
Members of a house church in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, were placed in extreme danger by Muslim relatives of their landlord, who broke up their worship service by threatening to kill them with a machete last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Iraq: Five men sentenced to life imprisonment for killing American Christian
A court in Baghdad, Iraq, sentenced four Iraqi militia members and one Iranian national to life imprisonment last week for the killing of American Christian Stephen Troell last year, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India: Deadly violence continues in Manipur despite army intervention
The tribal Christian Kuki-Zo community in India’s Manipur state continues to face deadly attacks from extremist members of the Hindu majority Meitei community, despite recent military interventions, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
Nigeria: More than 1,000 Christians murdered by Islamic militants in 2023
The International Christian Concern (ICC) international aid advocacy organization reports that over 1,000 Christians have been murdered by Islamic militant extremists in Nigeria so far this year. The killings were carried out by Fulani herdsmen, and the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa terror groups.
Pakistan: Christians petition High Court for investigation into police misconduct during anti-Christian riots
Church leaders in Pakistan have petitioned the Lahore High Court for a “thorough and transparent” independent judicial investigation after police illegally arrested Christians instead of the Muslim perpetrators of violent anti-Christian riots which took place in Faisalabad District last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
DRC: 48 people killed during anti-UN protest in church
Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed 48 civilians when they opened fire on a peaceful anti-United Nations protest being held at a church in Goma, North Kivu province on Wednesday, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
Pakistan Pastor Shot After Removing Islamic Graffiti From Church
A pastor in Muslim-majority Pakistan says he has been shot and injured after Islamic graffiti was removed from his Presbyterian church in an eastern district where last month, angry Muslims destroyed scores of churches and homes.
Uganda: Police foil bomb attack on church in Kampala, hundreds evacuated
Police in Uganda have announced they were able to prevent a planned bombing attack on hundreds of Christian worshippers at the Lubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral in Kampala on Sunday, AFP/Reuters report.
‘Nigerian Army Fires Soldier For Preaching Christ’
The Nigerian Army has dismissed a soldier for preaching about Jesus Christ while in service uniform on social media, several sources confirmed over the weekend.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ‘Rekindles Hope’, Opposes Forced Marriages of Christian Girls
The Supreme Court in Pakistan has ordered the government to respond to a complaint demanding lower courts stop allowing forced conversion and marriage of minority girls in the predominantly Muslim country. The decision could make way for the country to adopt laws that would protect young girls, says a new report.
Pakistan Churches Face Islamic Graffiti Attacks
Christians in several parts of Pakistan faced a new dilemma Thursday after their churches were painted with pro-Islam slogans by suspected Muslim militants, according to footage obtained by Worthy News.
Nigeria: Christians murdered, abducted in Kaduna state
Christians in Nigeria’s Kaduna state continue to face extremely violent persecution as Islamic terrorists murdered a Christian woman on August 9, shot a Baptist pastor dead on August 23, and kidnapped two Anglican brothers on August 25, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Nigeria ranks number one in the world for the number of Christians murdered (5,014 last year) and kidnapped (4,726 last year), according to data collected by the US Open Doors International Christian advocacy organization.
Azerbaijan: 120,000 Armenian Christians facing extreme persecution in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)
Having suffered relentless genocidal persecution throughout history, Armenian Christians are again facing an existential crisis as the Muslim Azerbaijani government has imposed a military blockade on the flow of essential supplies from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to the 120,000 Armenian Christians living in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) enclave in Azerbaijan, the Christian media outlet NRB reports. The blockade comes amid an ongoing conflict over the region involving Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the self-declared Armenian breakaway state of Artsakh.
Haiti: Christian nurse forgives her kidnappers after release from captivity
Since her release from captivity in Haiti earlier this month, American Christian nurse Alix Dorsainvil has issued a video assuring her Haitian gangster abductors that she forgives them and that Jesus is willing to forgive them too, no matter what they have done, Christian Today (CT) reports.
Thousands Protest Against Christians In Pakistan
Pakistani authorities have detained two Christian men for allegedly desecrating the Koran after some 2,000 Muslim extremists demanded tougher actions against Christians accused of blasphemy, Worthy News learned Tuesday.
Haiti: Seven Christians killed after pastor tells them to confront heavily armed gang
Seven evangelical Christians were murdered by heavily armed gang members in Caradeux, Haiti on Saturday after their pastor told them to pray for the “anointing of David” to confront the “Goliath” bandits with only sticks and machetes, the Christian Post reports. The murders took place as Haiti continues its descent into lawlessness and gang rule since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse two years ago.
India: At least 40 Madhya Pradesh churches issued with suspicious, “discriminatory” police questionnaires
Christians in India’s Madhya Pradesh state say police have issued at least 40 churches with suspicious, discriminatory, questionnaire notices requesting information they believe could be released to Hindu extremists to attack them with, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Pakistan: Christian man shot dead by Islamic extremists
As Christians in Pakistan continue to face mortal danger because of their faith, a Christian man was falsely accused of blasphemy and then murdered by Islamic extremists in Punjab earlier this month, News Intervention reports.