Tag: Charlie Hebdo

Niger’s churches rebuilt, but West African nation ‘no longer tolerant’

January 24, 2018 Niger Charlie Hebdo, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niamey, Niger, Sahel, Trauma, West Africa

In Niger new buildings have emerged from the rubble of churches destroyed three years ago in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. On the weekend of 16-17 January, 2015, more than 70 churches were ransacked by hundreds of angry Islamists, who were said to be angered at . . . Read More

Niger: pastor’s daughter kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants

October 17, 2017 Niger Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Diffa, Lake Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Sahel, West Africa

Street scene in Zinder, Niger's second biggest town, where thousands of people fled to after Boko Haram first attacked Diffa in February 2015. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The teenage daughter of a pastor was kidnapped on 16 October in Diffa, south-eastern Niger, in what appears to be the first targeted kidnapping of a Christian by Boko Haram-affiliated militants in the West African nation. Aphodiya Garba Maida, 17, daughter of a pastor with the EERN (Église Évangélique de . . . Read More

Niger: Christians and Muslims fighting radicalism

February 9, 2017 Niger Charlie Hebdo, Islamic extremism, Maradi, Niger, Nigeria, Zinder

January 2015 saw a murderous attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, which killed 12 journalists. In Niger, as in much of the Muslim world, protests against the work of Charlie Hebdo, which was claimed to have insulted Islam’s prophet, became violent, as more than . . . Read More

The murder of a French priest has horrified the world. The same thing happens to Christians in lesser-reported places

July 27, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, Charlie Hebdo, Egypt, France, Jacques Hamel, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Paris, Sudan

Rev. Jacques HamelEglise Catholique de Rouen The 26 July killing of a Catholic priest in his church in St. Etienne du Rouvray, France, once again has pushed jihadist violence into the headlines. The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder, committed by two knife-wielding attackers who were shot and . . . Read More

Niger: a year after 70 churches destroyed in anti-‘Charlie’ riots

January 20, 2016 Niger Charlie Hebdo, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niamey, West Africa, Zinder

Demolishing Boukoki’s EERN church, damaged in the anti-Charlie’ riots in 2015, ahead of its rebuildingWorld Watch Monitor A year has passed since the churches in the West African country of Niger experienced the worst attacks in their history, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. On . . . Read More

2016 World Watch List drawn from world headlines

January 13, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Bibles, BJP, Boko Haram, Central Asia, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Egypt, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kenya, Libya, Middle East, Mosul, Niger, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, North Korea, Paris, Sub-Saharan Africa

Some of the most urgent headlines of the past 12 months, from the global spread of jihadist violence to North Korea’s test of a putative atomic weapon, intersect with an updated list of the most difficult places to live as a Christian. For the 14th straight year, North Korea is . . . Read More

Niger churches ‘abandoned’ after Charlie Hebdo destruction

July 23, 2015 Niger Baptists, Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Niamey, Niger, Prophet Muhammad, Protestants, Trauma, West Africa, Zinder

In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the churches in the predominantly Muslim West African nation of Niger experienced the worst attacks in their history. On the weekend of 16-17 January, hundreds of angry Islamists attacked and ransacked dozens of properties and churches, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah . . . Read More

Iceland makes blasphemy legal

July 3, 2015 Blasphemy, Charlie Hebdo, Elections, France, Iceland, Sweden

Iceland’s parliament has abolished its blasphemy laws, despite opposition from some of the country’s churches, reports the BBC. A bill was put forward in response to the attack against the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, by Iceland’s minority Pirate Party, which campaigns for internet and data freedom. The Pirate movement . . . Read More

After ‘Charlie’: latest incident of Pakistani Christians targeted by Muslim anger

February 21, 2015 Pakistan Charlie Hebdo, Jamaat-e-Islami, Karachi, Kasur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Madrassas, Mardan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Multan, Pakistan, Pashtun, Peshawar, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Taliban

Protests over their latest Charlie Hebdo cartoon depiction a weeping Prophet Mohammed holding a sign saying, 'I am Charlie', led to violence in the West African nation of Niger over the weekend January 18, 2015.

World Watch Monitor

The publication of Charlie Hebdo’s ‘memorial edition’, with its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad crying, sparked – in one or two countries – a violent backlash against Westerners in general and Christians in particular. It was notable in Niger, where 70 churches were destroyed, Algeria where police and protestors clashed, . . . Read More

Boko Haram’s attacks spread into Niger sparking mass exodus

February 13, 2015 Niger Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Diffa, Islamic extremism, Lake Chad, Niamey, Niger, Nigeria, UN, Zinder

Nigeria’s neighbour to its north, French-speaking Niger, is the latest country to pledge its army will fight the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram. Boko Haram’s military and strategic advance has already provoked the postponement of Nigeria’s Presidential election, due to have been held this Saturday, 14 February. The election is . . . Read More

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