Catholic Today reported 14 people were slaughtered at a Protestant church in the West African nation of Burkina Faso on Sunday, December 1, 2019.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore condemned “the barbaric attack” in the town of Hantoukoura on Twitter. He said that numerous people were also wounded in this attack in the country’s eastern region.
Je condamne l'attaque barbare contre l'Église protestante de Hantoukoura dans le département de Foutouri qui a fait 14 morts et plusieurs blessés.
Je présente mes condoléances les plus attristées aux familles éplorées et souhaite prompt rétablissement aux blessés. RK— Roch KABORE (@rochkaborepf) December 1, 2019
Kabore offered his “deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Islamic extremists have had a presence in Burkina Faso since 2015. Jihadists have assaulted police stations and churches in the country’s northern region. They have also attacked the eastern parts of the country.
In November, gunmen who were allegedly part of an Islamic terror cell attacked a convoy with employees of a mining company in that region, leaving 37 people dead.
The U.S. State Department has advised against travel throughout the majority of Burkina Faso, claiming that terrorists may attack places of worship and other targets.
The church attack on Sunday targeted a congregation connected to the evangelical mission organization SIM. In response to an announcement from the governor in the region, people in Burkina Faso expressed their condolences and called on God, the government, and their compatriots to fight for justice on behalf of the victims.
“God is good, but he is also a God of justice as much he is good and patient as he will render justice to the height of the crime,” one commenter wrote. “Let us be vigilant and redoubled all efforts at all levels so as not to leave any fault to the enemy.”
Christian Today reported on a spate of church attacks that took place earlier this year in April and May.
“It’s not only the church … that has been attacked; all the values of tolerance, forgiveness, and love that have always led our country have been hurt,” declared Henri Yé, president of the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Missions in Burkina Faso, in an April 30 statement after the first attack. “The freedom of worship consecrated by our fundamental law [the Constitution] has been flouted.”“In the face of blind hatred, let us ask God to give us the strength to spread love, which makes us the children of God,” said Yé in April. “The unity of the body of Christ and of the whole nation must be preserved at all costs.”
In an environment of politically correctness, such tragedies will likely get thrown under the rug due to the fact that the victims are Christian.
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