by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Christians in northern Mozambique have come under increasing threat from Islamic extremist insurgents fighting the Mozambican government in order to impose their version of Muslim law and control on the country, The Roys Report (TRR) has said.
While Mozambique is predominantly Christian, the rise of Islamic extremism in the north is now such a major threat that the southeast African country ranks 39 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. Islamic jihadists have murdered more than six thousand people and displaced more than one million in Mozambique since Oct. 2017.
According to TRR, Islamic extremists have intensified their attacks on Christian communities, resulting in the recent displacement of some 100,000 Christians and the targeted destruction of church buildings. The attacks have intensified and have become bolder as insurgents seize control of more territory.
Mozambican-born Dr Eric Morier-Genoud, an author and political scientist at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, affirmed in a statement to the The Roys Report: “The insurgency has always had a religious element. Their political project is to establish a society based on their interpretation of the Muslim sharia law.”
In a website statement about the situation facing Mozambican Christians, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organizations says: “The rise of Islamic extremism in the north of the country, especially in regions like Cabo Delgado, has had a devastating impact on the lives of believers. Churches have been burnt down, pastors abducted, and many killed. The objective of these groups is to establish a strict Islamic state, and Christians are often targeted as symbols of resistance to this extremist ideology.”
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