Mozambique: 11 Christians murdered by Islamic State-affiliated terrorists, “only prayer can sustain us”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Terrorists affiliated with Islamic State murdered 11 Christians in an attack on Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique last week, Aid the Church in Need (ACN) reports. The killings come amid relentless violence in Cabo Delgado and the neighboring province of Niassa, which has led to the deaths of around 5,000 people and the internal displacement of some 1 million others.

Last week’s massacre occurred on Friday, September 15, in the village of Naquitengue, near Mocimboa da Praia, in the province of Cabo Delgado, ACN said. According to information provided to ACN by Friar Boaventura, a missionary of the Poor of Jesus Christ brothers in the region, the armed terrorists arrived in Naquitengue in the early afternoon and proceeded to separate Christians from Muslims.

Then, Boaventura recounted: “They opened fire on the Christians, riddling them with bullets.” Boaventura added that the attack was not the first of its kind: “Unfortunately, when these things happen, the population gets very scared,” he said.

In a separate statement, Sister Aparecida Ramos Queiroz, who works for the Diocese of Pemba, said: “Only prayer can sustain us, because this conflict seems to have no end in sight.”

Mozambique ranks 32nd on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. In a website statement about the situation, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization explains: “Christians face persecution from the growing presence of Islamic militants, particularly in the northern region of Cabo Delgado, where insurgents such as the IS-affiliated Islamist group al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah, and fighters with links to Somali group al-Shabaab, are enforcing a reign of terror.”

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