Muslims torch Tanzanian Churches
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 (4:42 am)
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
DODOMA, TANZANIA (Worthy News)– More than 100 followers of an Islamist separatist group have been arrested in Tanzania earlier this month during sectarian riots in which several churches were set ablaze.
At least three churches were razed as others were attacked; Church members’ property was damaged and shop windows smashed.
During the night, the flag of the Association for Islamic Mobilization and Propagation was raised over the site of the Evangelical Assemblies of God-Tanzania Church; Police arrested 122 UAMSHO followers in connection with the riots.
The violence was ignited by an earlier incident in which a Christian boy was duped into desecrating a Qu'ran; after the desecration was reported to a local mosque, a Muslim mob threatening to kill the boy soon formed; when police took the boy into protective custody, the mob stormed the station, demanding he be handed over to them for punishment.
Violence against Christians is increasing in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, which is mostly Muslim. Earlier this year, UAMSHO, which wants Zanzibar to become independent of mainland Tanzania, attacked local churches and other Christian properties.
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