Christians Under Attack

According to International Christian Concern (ICC), on September 13, the Muslim men forcefully took Muhammad Ali, a new Christian convert from Islam, to a mosque on suspicion that he had left Islam. They asked Ali to enter and pray at the mosque. When he refused, they stabbed him on the hip with a knife.

Ali was immediately taken to Dufti Referral Hospital.

The police arrested two of the suspects on September 21; one of the suspects remains at large.

A Christian leader who wants to remain anonymous told ICC, “We know that the detained assailant will soon be released. One of the imprisoned Muslims even threatened to attack me once he was released. We must suffer for the sake of the gospel. What we need from you is to pray for us.”

Dufti is a city located in Afar Regional State of Ethiopia. According to the 2007 National Census, 95.3% of the population in Afar Regional State are Muslim.

"The Ethiopian constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but sadly Christians living in Muslim-dominated parts of the country suffer persecution at the hands of radicals," said Jonathan Racho, ICC's Regional Manager for Africa.

"The only way to tackle this heinous violation of religious freedom is by bringing the perpetrators of the attacks to justice. We urge the Ethiopian officials to properly punish all individuals responsible for attacking Ali."