Muslim Students Torch Home of Christian Educator [Compass]

3:36:56 AM    

Eritrean Police Jail 51 More Evangelicals

Pastor locked in underground cell.

Police hauled to prison a group of 51 Protestant Christians worshiping in secret in the Eritrean capital of Asmara on Sunday, February 16. Pastor Mengse Tweldemedhane of the Hallelujah Church was arrested along with his congregation in the Edaga Hamuse district of Asmara at 3:30 Sunday afternoon. The 34 men and 17 women were held under arrest at the Adi-Abyto military camp until February 18, when Pastor Tweldemedhane was separated from the group and locked into an underground cell. The same day, all but four were transferred to the Sawa Military Training Camp where they remain incarcerated. The latest arrests bring to 347 the total number of Protestant Christians known to be jailed in at least nine locations across Eritrea for attending “illegal” worship services, possessing Bibles or witnessing about their faith. Some of them, including a number of soldiers, have been in prison for nearly two years.[full story]

3:30:26 AM    

ISLAMIC MILITANTS SLAUGHTER 49 CHRISTIANS IN RAID IN NIGERIA 

YELWA, NIGERIA  (ANS) -- According to a news report from the UK-based Barnabas Fund, some 49 Christians were massacred by Islamic militants in a raid on the Christian town of Yelwa on Tuesday, February 24.

The report says, “Plateau Police Commissioner Innocent Ilozuoke told reporters how most of the Christian victims had been shot as they ran to a church desperately seeking refuge. The attackers are thought to have mainly been ethnic Fulani Muslims. Local security sources indicate that the merciless guerrilla tactics used in the assault suggest Islamist fighters from Chad and Niger may also have been involved. Police and army units have been sent to the town and order has now been restored.

“Local Christians in Plateau State have suffered repeated attacks from ethnic Hausa/Fulani Muslim settlers since September 2001. Hundreds have been killed in the violence. Islamic militants from Chad, Niger and other countries outside of Nigeria have repeatedly been involved. Local Christians believe militant elements within the Muslim community are working to a strategy to drive out Christians and Islamize the whole state.”

Barnabas Fund provides the media and its supporters with urgent news briefs concerning suffering Christians around the world. Barnabas Fund works to support Christian communities mainly, but not exclusively, in the Islamic world where they are facing poverty and persecution. Its website can be found at www.barnabasfund.org.

3:28:51 AM