Cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad are proving costly for Christians in majority-Muslim countries in Africa.
At least 45 churches were torched in mid-January in Niger in two days of protests that left about 10 people dead. The targeted churches were mainly evangelical built in Niamey, the capital city.
Three other churches were ransacked Jan. 16 and three people were killed in Zinder, Niger’s second-largest city. A French cultural center burned down in the city as other marches unfolded in Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Algeria — all former French colonies.
Christians’ homes and businesses also have been attacked as enraged mobs clash with police in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris on Jan. 7, in which gunmen killed 12 people working for the satirical weekly. The subsequent publication of more Muhammad cartoons in Charlie Hebdo’s latest edition prompted renewed violence.
Sheikh Saliou Mbacke, a Muslim leader from the Muridiya Sufi Community of Senegal, said he strongly condemned the attacks on churches in Niger but “Muslim demonstrations to express their anger are legitimate. I join all Muslims in the world to also express my anger for the cartooning of prophet Muhammad.”
(RNS)
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