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Why are IS attacks against Christians on the rise in Africa?

Why are IS attacks against Christians on the rise in Africa?

What’s behind the rise in African Christian attacks by Jihadist groups?

Africa Daily · BBC World Service

January 18, 202313m 25s

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Show Notes

Dozens of people were killed in a bomb blast at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo last weekend.

In Nigeria, a priest was killed and another was abducted in the last few days.

By mid-January, women and children were kidnapped in Burkina Faso.

These are just a few of recent incidents where people in various African countries have been targeted.

What do they have in common? The Islamic State-affiliated groups in those countries have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

And this is just a small snapshot of what’s been happening on the continent in recent years.

A BBC analysis has uncovered that attacks by Islamic State or IS in sub-Saharan Africa are on a “steady rise“.

Alan Kasujja is finding out why this rise and speaks with Abdirahim Saeed, a journalist with the BBC Monitoring. He specialises in extremist jihadist groups.