More than 200 people have been murdered in Burkina Faso, as the threat of an African Islamic caliphate continues to increase. Yet the situation isn’t garnering nearly as much international attention as it deserves, says Megan Titley
Source: Open Doors
Pastor Soré
The West African nation of Burkina Faso has long been held up as a beacon of light for religious coexistence and tolerance. But for Pastor Soré this harmony came to an end when he and his family were forced to run for their lives.
“When the terrorists come to churches and find Christians, they tell them that Christianity’s time is over, and they should turn to the Islamic religion,” says Soré. “They warn Christians to stop conducting services. When they come back later and find you in the church, they kill you.
“They always start and end by saying ‘Allahu akbar’, God is most great.”
Last February, Pastor Soré had to flee with his family after three attacks on his village. In the first attack, the men of the village - who are often just killed outright - ran for their lives. The women were forced to give their money to the terrorists. When they returned, the men fled again but this time, some women were raped.
Where the atrocities in Syria were met with outrage, the terror seems to be greeted with a collective shrug
It wasn’t until the third attack, after terrorists burned their village to the ground, that Pastor Soré, his wife Teresa and their children left. Soré says: “When the terrorists came the third time, they did not spare Muslims either.
“They burned the goods of all people, regardless of their religion. Now, when they abduct people, they later ask them to recite the Quran, and if you are unable to do it, you are likely to be killed. As Christians, we know we are hated by the terrorists.”
The couple now live on a plot of land and are looking after 15 other orphaned children and teenagers. It’s a heartbreaking story, but what’s truly shocking is it’s just one of two million stories. One in ten people in Burkina Faso are displaced. And one million young people are without any education.
Attacking the infidels
Burkina Faso is ranked number one on the 2024 Global Terrorism Index. Since the insurgency began in 2016, Burkina Faso has been facing a deadly threat from Islamic insurgents who have taken control of almost half of the country’s territory. More than 26,000 people have died.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Christians are among those who have been targeted in a surge of attacks against civilians by terror groups. Christians are regarded as infidels or ‘nonbelievers’ by extremist Islamists whose declared aim is to establish Islamic rule. It means Christians are threatened with ultimatums when attacks take place – to leave, convert or face certain death.
Just one month ago, on 24 August, extremists filmed themselves killing around 200 people in one of the country’s worst massacres this year. Many of those killed were volunteers helping the security forces dig trenches to protect Barsalagho, a town just a few hours north of the capital Ouagadougou.
The al-Qaeda-linked group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Musliman, claimed responsibility for the August attack. They are considered the deadliest terror group in the world. But the government in Burkina Faso – one of the poorest countries in the world – is not in a strong position to take on such a foe.
A new Islamic caliphate
In its 2024 report, The Global Terrorism Index stated: “The epicentre of terrorism has now conclusively shifted out of the Middle East and into the Central Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa.”
The media focused a huge wave of attention on the so-called Islamic State (IS) group who took over a whole section of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring it an Islamic caliphate. Their reign of terror was heavily documented: the planned genocide against the Yazidi people, the violent persecution of Christians and Shia Muslims, and their filmed beheadings of captured Westerners.
Extremists filmed themselves killing around 200 people in one of the country’s most deadly massacres this year
Finally, a US-led coalition drove them out of power in 2019. Now, a loose affiliation of this jihadist group has moved south and redoubled their efforts for an Islamic caliphate in sub-Saharan Africa. The extreme violence and ruthless hostility they display towards Christians and many other groups is undiminished from their reign of terror in the Middle East.
But what is diminished is the attention these horrors are receiving from the Western media or the international community. Where the atrocities visited on Iraq and Syria were met with shock and outrage, the latest wave of terror seems to be greeted with a collective shrug.
Speaking out
Burkina Faso is just one nation to be flooded with deadly Islamist insurgents. As The Global Terrorism Index explains: “Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger account for most of the terrorism deaths in the region. All three face uncertain futures, having suffered from coups, weak governance and fragile relations with neighbouring countries.”
At Open Doors, we are urging the international community to support Burkina Faso’s security forces; to help fund or provide camps for people displaced by violence; and to support education initiatives to prevent more young people from becoming radicalised.
More broadly, we are urging Christians to pray and speak out about the terrors being visited on large swathes of sub-Saharan Africa with our Arise Africa campaign.
“This is not an African problem with an African solution - terrorism is a global problem that requires a global solution”, the UN representative of the United States has said.
We need to be shouting loudly for that global solution to be a global priority.
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