14 W. African Christians massacred at church by Islamists-no motive known

OUAGADOUGOU -- Fourteen Christians were murdered in church on Sunday in the West African nation of Burkina Faso by attackers who stormed in and opened fire. It is believed that members of the "religion of peace," Islam, were the gunmen but Reuters stated that the identities of the gunmen were not immediately clear:

The identities of the gunmen were not immediately clear, nor were additional details about the attack, which took place in the village of Hantoukoura near the border with Niger in the Est region. Burkina Faso’s armed forces were caring for the wounded and searching the area, the government said in a statement.

This year an Islamist insurgency has ignited ethnic and religious tensions in Burkina Faso, rendering large parts of the country ungovernable, especially in northern areas bordering restive Mali.

The article goes on to say that the area is "known for banditry" and has come under attack from "suspected jihadist groups" associated with Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The timing of the attack mirrors other anti-Christian attacks this year, such as the one on November 6 in which gunmen fired upon a convoy of buses carrying miners, killing 39.

In Sunday's attack, the AFP reports that about 10 "heavily armed individuals" carried out the church massacre "executing the faithful including the pastor and children."

As predicted, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore condemned the "barbaric attack" on the church, and offered his "deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded."

That's refreshing and helpful.

But it wasn't just a barbaric attack; it was a jihad attack and more will likely follow throughout the globe.

Christians are the most persecuted group in the world and anti-Semitism is also at an all-time high. 

In 2016, Fox News reported that the “Center for Studies on New Religions determined that 90,000 Christians were killed for their beliefs worldwide the previous year. Almost one third of the deaths were attributed to Islamic extremists such as ISIS while others were slaughtered by state and non-state persecution, as known to occur in North Korea.

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