Tag: Tuareg

Burkina Faso: Kidnappers release pastor and his family after four days

June 8, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Children, Djibo, Education, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Sahel, Soum, Tuareg

The pastor abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released. Local sources told Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo, were released yesterday (7 June). The report did not specifically mention the two granddaughters, Fasne-wendé . . . Read More

Mali the ‘epicentre’ of jihadist groups in the Sahel

December 14, 2017 Mali Bamako, Mali, Sahel, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tuareg, UN

A Catholic bishop in Mali has highlighted the ongoing insecurity in the country and welcomed the decision to deploy a new multinational stabilisation force. “The security situation in different areas of Mali has been a concern for several months,” Fr. Edmond Dembele, General Secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Mali, . . . Read More

Mali: ‘Christians can simply be slaughtered’

December 11, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Islamic extremism, Mali, Missionaries, Tuareg

Christians from northern Mali, displaced by the violence that started in 2012, are settling and building homes in the south. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Sory* was threatened by Islamists when they heard about his work at a church in Djalloube, central Mali, and fled, leaving his family traumatised. “I started to face serious problems when the Islamists heard about me and the conversion of some of the people [from Islam to Christianity],” Sory says. . . . Read More

Four months on, no word on US missionary kidnapped in Niger

February 27, 2017 Niger Abalak, Ansar Dine, Jeff Woodke, MUJAO, Niamey, Tuareg

Jeff Woodke is known in Abalak for his devotion to Niger and its nomadic populations.Jeff Woodke / Facebook UPDATE (27 Feb 2017) It’s been more than four months since a pioneering American missionary was kidnapped in Niger. Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement, was . . . Read More

Colombian nun kidnapped in southern Mali

February 8, 2017 Mali Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Children play by a bullet-riddled police station in Gao, Mali. August 28, 2013.UN Photo / Marco Dormino A Colombian nun was kidnapped by armed men last night (7 Feb) in southern Mali, a relatively safe part of the country, which has been mainly unaffected by Islamist attacks. Gloria Argoti . . . Read More

UPDATE: 1 year on, new video of kidnapped Swiss missionary in Mali

January 11, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

World Watch Monitor UPDATE (11 Jan. 2017): A video released by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on Tuesday (10 Jan) shows a new proof of life of the Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockly, held captive in Mali. The 2’17” video shows a woman – her head covered by a black . . . Read More

Murder of Fulani Christian mayor in Mali increases concerns over creeping Islamic extremism

December 16, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

The motive behind the murder of a Fulani Christian politician in Mali last month remains unknown, but locals suspect an Islamist agenda. Moussa Issah Bary, the 47-year-old deputy mayor of Kerana (near the Burkina Faso border), was shot dead by six unidentified men on motorbikes on 16 November. He is . . . Read More

Kidnap in Niger of US missionary a ‘terrible tragedy’

October 20, 2016 Niger Abalak, Ansar Dine, Jeff Woodke, MUJAO, Niamey, Tuareg

Jeff Woodke is known in Abalak for his devotion to Niger and its nomadic populations.Jeff Woodke / Facebook The kidnap of a pioneering American missionary in Niger is a “terrible tragedy” for the communities he served for 24 years, according to the local mayor. It has also raised security . . . Read More

Rising Islamist militancy across Sahel belt threatens African Christianity

September 8, 2016 Agadez, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

More than 70 churches, as well as Christian homes, schools and orphanages,were burned down by Islamists in Niger in January 2015.World Watch Monitor As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is . . . Read More

Swiss missionary kidnapped in Mali ‘still alive’

June 17, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockly, left, in Timbuktu 2000. She was first kidnapped in 2012World Watch Monitor UPDATE (17 June): Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released a video, purporting to show that a Swiss nun kidnapped in Mali in January is alive and in good health. The three-minute video, posted on . . . Read More

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