Africa

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Somali Christians were confronted with more violence Thursday, December 11, amid fresh reports that Ethiopian troops poured into neighboring Somalia to fight Muslim militants, who have killed and abducted Christians as part of their efforts to take over much of the country.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians on the predominantly Muslim islands of Pemba and the Comoros archipelago faced another tense day Monday, December 8, amid fresh reports that believers have been beaten, detained and banished for their faith.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service JOS, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned to the central Nigerian city of Jos Tuesday December 2, amid fresh allegations that suspected Muslim militants used a dispute over local elections to attack churches, leaving hundreds dead and thousands fleeing their homes, this weekend.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service JOS, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- At least some 400 people have been killed and thousands forced to flee their homes in the central Nigerian city of Jos where Christians and Muslims clashed in the worst sectarian violence in Africa's most populous nation in years.Fighting began Friday, November 28, amid a dispute over the result of a local election, witnesses said Saturday, November 29.

Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with reporting from India MUMBAI, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Indian security forces regained control of Mumbai Saturday, November 29, after the worst terrorist assault in the country's history killed nearly 200 people, including Christians and Jews, officials said. Some 60 hours after a group of gunmen threw India's commercial capital into bloody chaos by attacking a train station, hospitals, hotels and other high profile targets, officials said all of the suspected Islamic militants were killed or captured.

(BosNewsLife)-- Eritrea's government has launched a fresh crackdown on Christians with reports that at least 110 evangelical believers have been detained since last week, a well-informed rights group said Wednesday, November 26.

CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned Tuesday, November 25, to a suburb of Cairo after Coptic Pope Shenuda III banned Egyptian Christians from praying in a church-owned building there following clashes with Muslims, the latest in a series of sectarian clashes.

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Somali gunmen who kidnapped two Italian nuns during a raid on a Kenyan border town have taken them across the border deeper into Somalia, government officials said Tuesday, November 11.The abducted nuns' missionary group, the Movimento Contemplativo Missionario Padre de Foucauld, named them as Caterina Giraudo, 67, and Maria Teresa Olivero, 60. Witnesses said the armed men seized the women from their homes Monday, November 10, in the town of El Wak. They claimed kidnappers stole at least two vehicles.Italy's Foreign Ministry said Italian envoys in Kenya and the Vatican representative were working with local authorities to secure the nuns' freedom.RESCUE EFFORTS Somali officials said they were working around the clock to find the nuns. "We've been searching for the nuns and the bandits since last night and there's no trace of them," Hussein Sheikh Hassan, administrator of El Wak district in Somalia, told Reuters news agency. He added that the kidnappers were apparently heading towards Garbahaarey, about 175 km (110 miles) northeast of El Wak town."We are finding it very difficult to trail them. We ask Kenya's government to cooperate and help us coordinate the search ... We'll welcome any Kenyan delegation, whether security or elders, so as to rescue the nuns and recover the cars," Hassan was quoted as saying. MORE DANGER The kidnapping underscored the danger faced my Christian missionaries. Somali bandits have carried out an increasing number of kidnappings, often targeting foreigners or Somalis working with international organizations.In the latest show of force by the hardline Islamist al Shabaab group, its fighters seized two southern towns, Bulamarer and Qoryoley in the Lower Shabelle region, on Tuesday, November 11, news reports said.Battles between the Islamists and local militia also killed six people in El Dheer, in Galgadud region, and al Shabaab gunmen in trucks mounted with heavy weapons were also said to be heading towards Merka town, local officials said. Last week, gunmen stormed an airstrip in central Somalia, abducting four European aid workers and their two pilots.END