Another terror attack targeting Christians in Burkina Faso.

A security patrol in Burkina Faso. AFP.

A terror attack targeting Christians in Burkina Faso has killed a priest and five worshipers. AFP. 20 to 30 attackers rushed into the church and opened fire. The group then set fire to the church and several other buildings including shops and a health center. The attack comes after French forces rescued civilians that were being held as hostages. The attack is very similar to another attack that happened in Burkina Faso two weeks ago. That attack also killed a pastor and five worshipers. It is unclear who was responsible for the attacks but ISIS and local groups are active in Burkina Faso. 

My Comment:

Yet another attack on Christians worshiping in church. After the Sri Lanka attacks, this is the 2nd major attack on Christians that has flown under the radar. Part of that is due to the fact it happened in Africa and the small number of deaths may have had something to do with it as well, but you have to wonder why these attacks don't get the kind of coverage you would expect. If someone had shot up a mosque we would be hearing about it for months... 

This attack seemed more like a chaotic spur of the moment thing than an actual planned attack. Given the large amount of attackers and the fact that they ran riot through the town makes me think that this was less of a professional attack and more of a unplanned one. It was pretty amateur compared to something like the Sri Lanka attacks. 

It's also unclear why the attackers decided to attack a bunch of shops and a medical center as well. Were they just attacking, burning and looting for the sake of doing so or did they have a message to send as well? It might be that those were Christian owned businesses but it's just as possible that they wanted to cause havoc. 

I don't know if Burkina Faso's security forces are up to this kind of challenge. The picture used by AFP doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. I've hardly ever seen someone holding an AK that way and it doesn't really look like the soldier would be ready to defend himself or others on short notice. And, of course, the fact that these people were able to shoot up and burn a church and then run riot through a town without being confronted is pretty good evidence that Burkina Faso's security fores were not on the ball. 

I generally think that places of worship need to start thinking more about security. We have seen in the past few months attacks on pretty much every kind of place of worship. Churches, synagogues and mosques have all been targeted. I know people have some kind of aversion to guns in churches, but I think armed defenders, be they worshipers or private and public security, are probably needed at some point. Churches are pretty vulnerable to attack as they are places where large numbers of people gather and are usually undefended. Plus they are good targets if you want to make a political point. I think it's well past time for churches and other places of worship to get some defenses going...