Official: Burkina Faso hit with anti-Christian violence

Jihadists have killed at least 400 civilians in a new spree of anti-Christian violence in Burkina Faso, the state secretary responsible for programmes aiding Christians said on Tuesday.

The number of those wounded and displaced is impossible to estimate, Tristan Azbej said on Facebook.

Azbej said the killings had been clearly anti-Christian. They “leave no doubt that there are Islamist extremists behind it: 26 people were beheaded in a church where they gathered to attend service,” he said.

“We think Christians’ lives and dignity is worth as much as anyone else’s. That is why Hungary’s government was the first to elevate aid for persecuted Christian to the level of a state-funded programme,” he said.

The Hungary Helps programme has provided aid in more than 50 countries, and has launched support schemes in regions of the Sahel suffering violence, he said.

“The persecution of Christians must end and the world must stand by the persecuted innocent instead of showing indifference and suppressing what happened. Let us pray for the survivors … and act to bring an end to violence,” Azbej said.

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