Bishop Justin Kientega of Ouahigouya
Photo: CISAnewsafrica Following the death of more than a dozen Christians in a church shooting, a Burkina Faso bishop said Western governments have a responsibility to stop the flow of weapons to militants in the region. “The Western powers should stop those who are committing these crimes, instead of selling them the weapons that they are using to kill the Christians,” Bishop Justin Kientega of Ouahigouya told Aid to the Church in Need.
At the beginning of the month, gunmen in the eastern Burkina Faso town of Hantoukoura attacked a Protestant church service, killing 14 people, including several children.
“I condemn the barbaric attack against the Protestant Church of Hantoukoura in the department of Foutouri, which left 14 dead and several wounded. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded,” President Roch Marc Kaboré tweeted late Sunday.
Bishop Kientega said the attack is part of an attempt by radical Islamists to “provoke a conflict between the religions in a country where Christians and Muslims have always lived peaceably side by side”.
Violence
Escalating violence among armed militant groups in Burkina Faso has drawn international concern, with the United Nations warning earlier this year of an “unprecedented humanitarian emergency” in the country. Nearly half a million people have been forced to flee their homes in the last five years.
More than 60 Christians have been murdered in the country this year, Aid to the Church in Need reports.