“A group of 147 Christians – including children, elderly and eight pregnant women – fled from two villages, on the Niger border, at the end of October, to Dori, the capital of the Sahel region, as extremists sought to kill them,” reported the news source.

ACN was able to speak to one of the Christians who fled, who stated: “The terrible thing is that when someone gave us refuge, we were denounced as Christians, and this put the person who had accommodated us in danger. We have to sleep at a distance from the villages.”

Sources told ACN that the terrorists enter the villages, asking cattle herders whether they are Christian or Muslim, and then Kill the Christians.

One of the sources said: “If the owners were Christians the attackers didn’t consider it necessary to count their animals, because they said that they didn’t just want to take their animals, but also to kill the owners.”

Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré, Bishop of Dori, told ACN: “[There are] attacks, kidnapping, and murders in the whole country. The terrorists are kidnapping whoever they want to, executing some and liberating others.”

He said: “Last Sunday (31^st October) the terrorists turned back the regular buses which were on the way from Dori to Ouagadougou, saying that from now on the road was blocked.”

The bishop added: “Although the army afterwards patrolled the road, the people are afraid because this is only intermittent, and the terrorists can come back at any moment.”

Civilians in Burkina Faso are subject to grave acts of violence and human rights violations at the hands of extremist groups, who often target Christians, their leaders, and places of worship.

Source: persecution.org