A Christian Boys’ School in northern Pakistan was attacked by an armed mob of over 300 Muslims who were angry over the cartoons of Muhammad published in the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
“It is very sad that Islamic radicals attack Pakistani Christians because of Charlie Hebdo. Christians condemn the blasphemous cartoons. It is a shame that even after 67 years since the birth of Pakistan, Christians have not yet been considered Pakistani citizens, but are seen as ‘Western allies,'” Nasir Saeed, director of the NGO Center for Legal Aid Assistance & Settlement, told Fides News Agency.
At least four Christians were wounded in the assault on the building.
Witnesses say that the Muslim mob lifted smaller members to the top of the fence surrounding the facility so they could go and open gates allowing the attackers inside.
The school has been closed for two days because of additional security measures being installed to the building and grounds.
The attack is the latest in assaults on Christians around the world for the drawings in the French publication, which is not Christian and has often published cartoons mocking Christ and God.
Muslims in Niger attacked Christians, burning their homes and churches over the weekend, in retaliation for the French magazine Charlie Hebdo publishing a cartoon of Muhammad.
The International Christian Concern reported missionaries in the capital city of Naimey said all of their churches have been burned to the ground along with the homes of every pastor in the city. Some of the missionaries’ homes are among those destroyed by the mobs.
However, the missionaries reported that while smoke is “around all of side our house”, they are going to remain in Niger to speak the truth of Christ.
The protests apparently began at the grand mosque in the city and the mob then began their attack on Christians.
“I just rushed and told my colleagues in the church to take away their families from the place,” Pastor Zakaria Jadi said. “I took my family to take them out from the place. When I came back I just discovered that everything has gone. There’s nothing in my house and also in the church.”
Boko Haram’s leader was born in Niger and is believed to continue to have strong contacts in the country.
Al Qaeda in Yemen formally claimed responsibility for last week’s terrorist attack on French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
The spokesman for the group, Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, claimed the attack was ordered by the leadership of AQAP because the newspaper had insulted the prophet Mohammad. The group posted a video with the claim on YouTube.
“As for the blessed Battle of Paris, we…claim responsibility for this operation as vengeance for the Messenger of God,” said Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi.
The attack led by Cherif and Said Kouachi had been called an Islamic terrorist attack from the beginning after the brothers told witnesses at the site of the shooting they were connected to Al Qaeda. Western leaders downplayed the Al Qaeda connection claiming that they had no direct evidence of Al Qaeda’s guidance.
The terrorists also mocked the peace rally that took place on Sunday.
“Look at how they gathered, rallied and supported each other; strengthening their weakness and dressing their wounds,” it said of Western leaders who attended the event.
“Look carefully at their gathering. They are the same who fought us in Afghanistan and Caucasus, in Gaza, the Levant, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen.”
French authorities have arrested seven people in connection with the terrorist attack on a French satirical newspaper Wednesday.
The two gunman, however, are still at large.
Two brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi are believed to be the gunman who shot and killed 12 people inside the French publication Charlie Hebdo. Cherif has a criminal record of serving 18 months in prison for criminal association with a terrorist organization in 2005. He was part of an Islamist cell that called for French citizens to go to Iraq to fight Americans.
The man who drove the getaway car surrendered to authorities Wednesday night. Hamyd Mourad, 18, is reportedly working with authorities to identify anyone who helped in the planning of the attack.
Authorities say that seven people connected to the brothers are under arrest. They have not said what charges will be brought against them.
French president Francois Hollande has called for a national day of mourning.
“Nothing can divide us, nothing should separate us,” Hollande said in a statement. “Freedom will always be stronger than barbarity. France has always known how to defeat its enemies when it has known how to defend its values. Let us be united and we shall triumph.”
The latest terror attack by Islamic extremists in Nigeria happened Thursday morning in the city of Gombe.
Local officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the ECWA church.
“There was an explosion outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber who was restrained from getting into the church blew himself up,” Abubakar Yakubu, the head of the Nigeria Red Cross in Gombe, told the Christian Post. “Luckily no one was killed but some people were mildly injured.”
Witnesses say that the bomber arrived on a motorcycle and was furious when he was not permitted to drive past a security checkpoint that had been established by church members. The church had built the barricade as a defense against Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
The bomber had explosives strapped to his body that detonated while he was yelling at church members who had blocked his way.
The attack was the second bombing in Gombe on Thursday. A female bomber was blown up outside a military barracks when a soldier shot the explosives strapped to her body.
German police are investigating an attack on an Israeli man in Berlin on New Year’s Eve by Germans who were singing anti-Semitic songs.
Witnesses say a group of young men were shouting anti-Semitic slogans and singing songs on a subway train. Shahak Shapira, 26, is an Israeli citizen who lives in Berlin and asked the group to stop singing the hate songs.
When the men refused to stop spewing their hate, Shapira recorded their actions on his cell phone.
He exited the train car at the next stop only to be followed by the men who shouted at him in both German and Arabic. They demanded that Shapira delete the video from his phone. When Shapira refused, the gang spat on him, beat him and then kicked him in the head when he fell to the ground.
Police say they are still looking for the attackers.
A Massachusetts woman is under arrest after she vandalized a church and then tried to attack police with a metal crucifix in the same place a church’s nativity scene was vandalized.
The crucifix had been donated after a nearby church was vandalized when a baby Jesus was stolen from their nativity scene and replaced with a severed pig’s head.
Amarellis Cermeno of Haverhill, 54, was arrested on charges including “assault with a deadly weapon, malicious destruction of property and destruction of a place of worship.”
Police were called to La Iglesia Biblica Bautista around 3 p.m. Tuesday after someone had written “666” in large numbers in 15 different places on the church building. Police found Cermeno nearby carrying a large metal crucifix that she used to attack police.
She is being held without bail. She is undergoing mental health evaluations.
Officials with a New York town are targeting a church for an outreach to their community.
A code enforcement officer for the city told First Presbyterian Church that a “glee camp” they hosted at a building they own. A cease-and-desist order was issued in July saying that the church’s camp was a violation of zoning because they were operating a commercial action in a residential zone.
“Cease operating a summer glee camp @100/camper in a residential district. This is not an allowable use here,” the order said.
“I believe this action is a misguided and discriminatory act on the city’s part that not only harms the church’s ability to carry out its religious mission in the community, but also threatens a chilling effect upon other faith organizations similarly situated in residential areas throughout the city,” Pastor Eileen Winter said in a deposition.
The church charges $100 per camper but the money goes entirely to offset the church’s costs to put on the camp. The church makes no money on the camp and some years even loses money.
Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute says that the city is in violation of the Religious Land Use Act.
Officials in Borno State are reporting a massacre over the weekend in the Christian town of Shani carried out by Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
The communications with the town were cut off during the attack and officials say they are just now learning the scope of the attack.
A resident of the town told the Nigerian Daily Post that Boko Haram descended on the town around 8 p.m. local time on Saturday.
“They came on about 10 motorcycles from Gwaskara axis, well armed with Ak47 rifles, improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs, wrecking havoc without confrontation as there was no military operatives, nor police to assist the armless civilians who were running for dear lives,” the witness said.
The witness said at least two dozen people were killed and many businesses looted.
“A boy ran into my shop and said his father and elder brother had been shot. He was only wearing shorts, no top and sweating despite the wintry weather. I shut down my shop immediately, leaving some items outside,” business-owner Shuabu Lawal said.
For the second time in two weeks, a terrorist has driven a car into a crowd of civilians in Jerusalem.
Security sources say that Ibrahim al-Acri, an Arab man with connections to Hamas, drove a car into four people at a light rail station in eastern Jerusalem. He then drove a quarter mile further to strike ten more people before crashing his vehicle.
He leapt from his car with an iron rod to attack people but fled when police arrived. He was shot as he attempted to avoid police.
Rescue workers on the scene say at least one of the victims at Shimon HaTsadik light rail station is dead.
Hamas claimed credit for the attack according to a statement obtained by USA Radio News.
“We call on the people of Jerusalem and the West Bank and all of the Palestinians to carry out more of these activities with full force in order to defend al-Aska,” said the Hamas statement.
