Nearly 100 Christians were murdered in an attack by armed men on a village in Mali on June 10.
Suspected Muslim militants raided Sobame Da/Sobane KoU in Mopti region, which according to Open Doors USA is a mostly Christian village of Dogon farmers, reports The Post Millennial.
This is a critical time for the future of Christianity in the region. If the militant groups have their way, Christians and Muslims who do not subscribe to their ideology will be killed and driven out of the entire region. —Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland
Amadou Togo, a survivor of the violent attack, disclosed that 50 gunmen surrounded the village and then killed everyone with guns. “No one was spared—women, children, elderly people,” he said.
A local official revealed that at least 95 civilians were killed and then the bodies were burned; at least 19 others are missing. Sources said the village “had been virtually wiped out.”
Mali is an extremely dangerous country as the jihadist insurgency in the West African nation continues. The extreme violence forced Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his government to resign last April.
Open Doors said violence against Christians and other religious minorities intensifies not only in Mali, but across Sahel belt, south of the Sahara Desert, because of poverty, unemployment, corruption, and lack of governance, reports Premier.
Sources said there are about 30 Islamist groups in Sahel. Some members are natives while others are from international terrorist groups such as IS and Al-Qaeda. Leaders recruit members by promising them with basic goods and services. They also vowed to end corruption in government by creating a new political order.
“The situation for Christians in the Sahel is precarious,” said Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland. “This is a critical time for the future of Christianity in the region. If the militant groups have their way, Christians and Muslims who do not subscribe to their ideology will be killed and driven out of the entire region.”
