Christians Under Attack

protection after the Muslim attackers continued burning churches even after the
federal police were sent to the town.

The Muslims started the attacks yesterday after falsely accusing the
Christians of desecrating the Qur'an. More than ten thousand Muslims shouted
"Allah Akbar" (Allah is great) as they burned down five evangelical churches.
The government sent the federal police force to protect the Christians after the
Muslims burned down the first three churches. The Muslims overwhelmed the police
force and burned down two more churches today.

Speaking with ICC, Christian leaders expressed their fear that Muslims will
start killing the Christians unless the government sends more security forces to
contain the Muslim attackers.

At the time of the writing of this report, none of the Muslim attackers have
been arrested. The government officials detained some Christians and took them
to the nearby Jimma town stating that they need to do that for their own
security.

Ethiopia is a Christian majority country and was one of the first nations to
accept Christianity. However, in the areas of the country where Muslims are the
majority, Christians face attacks.

"We urge Ethiopian government forces to send reinforcement to protect the
Christians in the city of Asendabo from the Muslim attacks. We ask Christians
around the world to prevent any further attacks by calling the Ethiopian
officials in their countries and asking them to protect the Christians and their
property," said ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho.