Issued by the Catholic Center for Studies and Media - Jordan. Editor-in-chief Fr. Rif'at Bader - موقع أبونا abouna.org

Published on Monday, 2 December 2019
At least 14 killed in attack on Burkina Faso church

AFP and en.abouna.org :

At least 14 people have been killed after gunmen opened fire inside a church in Burkina Faso.

The victims were attending a service at a church in Hantoukoura, in the eastern part of the country on Sunday, December 1.

The identity of the gunmen is not known and the motive is unclear.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the country over the past few years, mostly by extremist groups, sparking ethnic and religious tensions especially on the border with Mali.

A statement from the regional government said that many people are injured.

A security source told AFP news agency that armed individuals carried out the attack, "executing the faithful including the pastor and children".

Another source said the gunmen fled on scooters.

BURKINA FASO CHURCH APPEALS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST TERROR ATTACKS

A bishop leader in Burkina Faso had earlier called on the world to stop the massacre of Christians by foreign-backed extremist groups that are “better armed and equipped” than government forces.

“If the world continues to do nothing, the result will be the elimination of the Christian presence,” said Bishop Laurent Dabire of Dori, president of the bishops’ conference of Burkina Faso and Niger.

“They’ve slowly moved into the interior of our country, attacking the army, civil structures and the people,” he said of the nongovernment forces. “Today their main target appears to be Christians. I believe they are trying to trigger an interreligious conflict.”

The appeal had been published by Aid to the Church in Need as nongovernmental organizations in the country launched a program to help 250,000 people displaced by attacks throughout the landlocked west African nation.

The bishop said 20 Christians had been killed in unprovoked attacks since January 2019.
“Insecurity is growing constantly and has forced us to reduce our pastoral activities. It is now too dangerous to go to some areas, and I’ve been forced to close down two parishes,” he said.

The Catholic Church makes up a fifth of the 16.5 million inhabitants of Burkina Faso, whose government signed an accord with the Vatican July 12, 2019 guaranteeing the Church’s legal status and agreeing to “collaborate for the moral, spiritual and material well-being of the human person and for the promotion of the common good.”

BURKINA FASO PRESIDENT CONDEMNS 'BARBARIC ATTACK'

The president of the West African nation of Burkina Faso has confirmed that 14 people were killed in an attack on a Protestant church during Sunday services in the country's east.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said on Twitter that he condemned "the barbaric attack" in the town of Hantoukoura. He said several people were also wounded.

Kabore offered his "deepest condolences to the bereaved families" and wished "a speedy recovery to the wounded."