Nigeria: new massacre of Christians,
Boko Haram militias kill 15 faithfuls

KANO (NIGERIA) – New massacre of Christians in Nigeria where Boko Haram Islamist militias have cut the throat of 15 faithful in the village of Matsuri in the north-eastern region of the country mainly inhabited by Muslims. Witnesses and sources of a local NGO report: “From the information we gathered, the attackers broke into some very distinct houses and massacred 15 people while they slept.” Yesterday the Nigerian authorities reported an attack on Musari, but without giving details and claiming that there were far fewer victims.

The attack took place last Friday near Maiduguri, headquarters of the militants of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, but only today did they become aware of the dynamics and the exact number of victims. “From the information – gathered from humanitarian sources and local testimonies – the attackers entered, without making noise, in the houses and cut the throat of 15 Christians surprising them in their sleep,” the Nigerian authorities said today that, at first, they had talked about seven victims in two separate attacks last Friday in Maiha and Musari at the hands of armed men suspected of being in the ranks of Boko Haram. A humanitarian source explained that “the victims were chosen because they were of Christian faith”.

In 2012 there were numerous attacks against Christian churches in Nigeria.

Coptic church explosion in Libya, one dead. In Libya, an explosion devastated a Christian-Coptic church in Misurata and killed at least one person and injured three others. All the victims are Egyptian. The sources of the Libyan security forces report. The nature of the explosion has not yet been ascertained, but it is feared that it may have been caused by a bomb.

(December 30, 2012)