Posted on 01/02/2016 12:47:54 PM PST by yongin
On the feast of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, Pope Francis recalled “many martyrs today who are suffering persecution†and stressed how St. Stephen’s capacity to forgive showed him to be a “true witness.â€
The Pope’s words came just days after Islamist militants attacked a bus in northern Kenya. Two people were killed and three were injured, but the Christian passengers, whom the Islamists had started singling out to be killed, were largely shielded from their attackers by local Muslims.
According to reports, the Muslims refused to be separated from the Christians, telling the militants “to kill them together or leave them alone.â€
Members of the Somali-based al-Shabab Islamist group, loosely connected with al-Qaida, carried out the Dec. 21 ambush near the northeastern village of El Wak on the Somali border. The bus was traveling from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to the town of Mandera.
The attack follows the Garissa University College massacre in April, also in the same diocese. Al-Shabab militants also reportedly singled out Christians during that atrocity and shot dead 148 people, while freeing many Muslims.
That attack followed another similar bus attack a year ago, near Mandera, also by members of the same militant group, when 28 non-Muslims were killed as they traveled to Nairobi for the Christmas holidays. A few days later, al-Shabab militants attacked workers at a stone quarry in the area, again singling out Christian workers from Muslim ones, before killing 36 of them.
In a Dec. 23 statement sent to the Register, Bishop Joseph Alessandro of Garissa said the diocese was “saddened†by the latest “news of loss of innocent lives†in a region “still bleeding†from the recent terrorist attacks.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
“Man bites dog” = notable story.
Apparently some Muslims place their own humanity above their religion.
Remarkable, and not all that rare in the ME, for the locals of the two faiths to hide each other, comfort each other, and try to defend lives of one another where possible. It’s quite different in the West.
Why not just put a target on their backs? Totally violates shari’a.
It really was a courageous thing to do. They put their lives on the line.
Three?
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