by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Amid ongoing murderous campaigns of terror in Burkina Faso, Islamic jihadists slaughtered 44 civilians in the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi villages between April 6-7, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Islamic jihadism has increasingly plagued Burkina Faso, as it has other West African countries in the Sahel region since 2015, ICC reports. Many tens of thousands of people, especially Christians, have been murdered, and 2.3 million people have been displaced by militants affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State West Africa.
“In 2021, Burkina Faso experienced a record year of conflict and replaced Mali as the epicenter of Sahel terrorism,” ICC reports. “On June 4, 2021, the country underwent the bloodiest attack yet in its six-year struggle with jihadists, when Al-Qaeda affiliates killed more than 135 civilians over the
course of two nights.
Seven months and several attacks later, soldiers staged a coup and announced a government run by a military junta. The violence has created the worst humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso’s history.”
According to the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization, the impact of West African Islamic jihadism has devastated Christian communities in Burkina Faso. “The expanding influence of jihadist groups in Burkina Faso is having a catastrophic impact on Christians,” Open Doors explains in a website statement.
“Believers have been targeted and killed in villages, churches and workplaces, and hundreds of churches have been forced to close, with many having been destroyed. The threat from extremist Islamic groups has even spread to cities that were previously beyond their reach,” Open Doors says.
With Islamic jihadism now deeply entrenched within it, the West African nation of Burkina Faso ranks 23rd on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023.