Africa

By BosNewsLife Africa Service KHARTOUM/ROME (BosNewsLife)-- A Sudanese mother who was spared a death sentence for refusing to renounce Christianity has been flown to Italy, after more than a month in the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Italian officials confirmed Thursday, July 24.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service KHARTOUM, SUDAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian aid group says preparations are underway to "rescue" a further 3,400 Christians from  Sudan where the "increasingly aggressive Islamic government" is "seeking to eradicate Christianity."

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 BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Central African Republic feared more violence Thursday, January 30, following the reported killing of a prominent Baptist church official and his son by Muslim rebels. Pastor Kongbo, treasurer of the Union des Eglises Baptistes (UEB), was killed Tuesday, January 28, along with his son at their home by the rebels, known as Seleka.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ZANZIBAR CITY, TANZANIA (BosNewsLife) -- Fifteen people, including militants of terror network al-Qaida and Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab have been detained for alleged involvement in acid attacks against a priest and more than a dozen other people on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, police said.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ABUJA,NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in northeastern Nigeria were among those facing a new wave of Islamic violence as the Boko Haram terror group killed 86 people, including children, who were heard screaming as they burned to death after militants torched huts, survivors and officials said Sunday, January 31.

By Joseph C. DeCaro, BosNewsLife Special Corespondent CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Nearly a dozen injured Egyptian Christians, known as Copts, were recovering Monday, August 23, after they were attacked by an angry Muslim mob in the village of Shimi, a church leader and local Christians said.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (BosNewslife)-- Devoted Christians are among those awaiting the arrival of additional peacekeepers in the troubled Central African Republic to help restore security after violence linked to rebels killed at least seven believers during an evangelical church service, and over a dozen others elsewhere in the capital Bangui.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis on Monday, September 8, expressed his condolences  for the violent deaths of three elderly Italian nuns in Burundi, underscoring the dangers of missionaries working in the region.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A car bombing in the northern Nigerian town of Kudana killed dozens of people and damaged the All Nations Christian Assembly Church during an Easter worship service Sunday, April 8, officials and Christians said.