Somalia

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Muslim militants have beheaded two young boys in Somalia because their Christian father refused to hand over information about a church leader, a Christian news agency reported Wednesday, July 1.

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 Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Somalia feared more violence Monday, April 29, after Islamic militants reportedly killed the widow of a Christian who was slain for his faith in December, leaving the couple’s five children orphaned.

(ADDS LATEST ATTACK ON CHURCH IN KENYA, MORE DETAILS) By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Correspondent NAIROBI, KENYA (BosNewsLife)– Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab uses converts from religious Christianity to Islam to carry out attacks against churches in neighboring Kenya as part of what they call a "holy war", or Jihad, officials said in comments monitored by BosNewsLife Sunday, November 4.

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)-- Christians in Somalia were confronted with more violence Sunday, October 23, amid reports that a suspected Islamic militant blew himself up while earlier the militant al-Shabab group beheaded a 17-year-old Christian near the capital Mogadishu.  

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Triumphs amid trials marked BosNewsLife's November 4-November 10 newsweek with a Pakistani evangelist managing to distribute Bibles in areas hit by reported Islamic violence, the Middle East's largest Christian community embracing a new leader, while in Africa Christians died in attacks.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Somalia were facing another potential day of bloodshed Monday, August 24, amid fresh reports that Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity, killing at least one man in recent days for abandoning Islam.

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.