Armed terrorists stormed a Christian church in Burkina Faso on Sunday and murdered 24 people, including the pastor of the church, while injuring approximately a dozen more and kidnapping an undisclosed number of people.
“It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, which comes as jihadist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State seek to gain control over once peaceful rural Burkina Faso, fuelling ethnic and religious conflict,” Reuters reported. “The timing of the shooting, during a church service in the village of Pansi in the Yagha region, mirrors that of other attacks on Christians in the past year, including church attacks and assassinations of pastors and priests.”
Corinne Dufka, the region’s director for Human Rights Watch, told the Associated Press: “Perpetrators use victims’ links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces.”
“Authorities said some 20 attackers separated men from women close to the church in Pansy town. They reportedly looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes,” Vatican News reported. “The past week has seen an escalation of attacks against religious leaders in the area. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and aid workers reported the abduction of another pastor.”
In December, suspected Islamic terrorists killed 14 Christians in an attack on a church during a worship service.
