Somalia

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Somalia's feared Islamic militant group al-Shabab has warned Christians and other residents that it will crackdown on "non-Islamic culture" across the country, after its fighters reportedly killed another Christian leader and destroyed a tomb of a moderate Muslim cleric.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Minority Christians in Somalia face new challenges after suspected Islamic militants managed to enter the capital Mogadishu where they murdered a young woman for openly professing her faith in Jesus Christ, BosNewsLife learned. Sufia was at home with her parents when armed men, who were believed to belong to the al-Shabab group, burst into her home, Christians said.

By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Senior Special Correspondent Johan Th. Bos reporting from the Netherlands AMSTERDAM/WASHINGTON D.C. (BosNewsLife)-- One of the world's largest mission agencies, Open Doors, named North Korea and Iran Wednesday, November 6, as "the worst persecutors of Christians".

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

By BosNewsLife Africa Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos

By BosNewsLife News Center BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- The November 11-17 newsweek was marked by reports of Islamic militants attacking churches and, in at least one case, beheading a young Christian man "for leaving Islam", though believers continued to gather in worship expressing their faith in Christ and in their future.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife HARGEISA, SOMALILAND (BosNewsLife)-- A married Christian couple detained for evangelizing in Muslim-majority Somaliland have neem released, well-informed...

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Somalia faced a tense day Thursday, August 13, amid fresh reports that fighters of the country's main Islamic insurgent group al-Shabab beheaded four Christian aid workers for refusing to renounce their faith in Christ.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Somalia's minority Christians faced new challenges Thursday, January 6, after their most comprehensive Christian library was reportedly destroyed by Muslim militants who also threatened to continue killing Christians.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service NAIROBI, KENYA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in northeastern Kenya have asked for protection after Islamic militants killed a Christian teacher in an elementary school and kidnapped two colleagues as part of a wider crackdown, BosNewsLife learned.