1000 days since kidnap of 84 year old doctor in Burkina Faso: family plea for freedom
World Watch Monitor It’s more than 1,000 days now since an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, was kidnapped in Djibo, Burkina Faso, on 15th January, 2016. His abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Dubbed ‘the Doctor of the Poor’, Dr Elliott was providing free treatment […]
Burkina Faso pastor and his family released after four days
World Watch Monitor A Christian pastor who was abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released. Local sources told national broadcaster Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo were released on 7th June. A church in Burkina Faso in 2009. The recent […]
US missionary, captive for 20 months, is alive, reports Niger’s president
World Watch Monitor A US missionary kidnapped in Niger in October, 2016 is alive, according to the West African nation’s president. Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED), a branch of the US-based Youth With a Mission, was abducted by unknown assailants late in the evening of Friday, 14th October, […]
Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso
World Watch Monitor A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday, 3rd June. in his […]
Concerns over reported rise in extremism in Burkina Faso
World Watch Monitor A church in Burkina Faso, where more than 20 per cent of the population is Christian. PICTURE: khym54 via Flickr; CC 2.0 Christian and Muslim leaders in Burkina Faso met recently to discuss interreligious dialogue amidst growing concerns about the spread of violent Islamic extremism in the country, reports Fides. The landlocked West African […]
Two years on, thousands in Burkina Faso call for release of ‘doctor of the poor’
World Watch Monitor Ken Elliott. PICTURE: Via Facebook Thousands took to the streets of Djibo, a northern town in Burkina Faso, on Monday to call for the government to secure the release of an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, kidnapped two years ago. The abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda in […]
Kidnapped missionaries appear in video posted by jihadist groups in Africa’s Sahel
World Watch Monitor A coalition of jihadist groups affiliated to al-Qaeda released a video showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, just hours before France President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Mali, where France agreed to help support anti-terrorist efforts in the Sahel. According to the US-based monitoring group SITE, the undated almost 17 minute footage was […]