Algerian church continues in spite of burnt building

TIZI OUZOU, Algeria — Members of a church in Algeria’s Kabylie region gathered to worship Jan. 16 in their new building despite a protest, vandalism and a fire that damaged the building the previous weekend.

Local Muslims bent on running the congregation out of the neighborhood set fires inside and outside the building Jan. 9. Before setting it on fire, the assailants ransacked the Tafat Church building in Tizi Ouzou, a city 62 miles east of Algiers.

The perpetrators damaged everything within the new building, including electrical appliances.

“[T]he church held a service even though not everyone was present,” said Mustapha Krim, president of the Protestant Church of Algeria. “But they continue.”