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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A Church in Kenya<\/p>\n
Somalia-based terror group, al-Shabaab, has \u201cordered\u201d Christians to leave three counties in northeastern Kenyan, The Christian Post is reporting.<\/p>\n
The group, linked to al-Qaeda, said it gave the order for Christians to leave Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties to allow Muslims get all local jobs, the newspaper quoted U.S-based International Christian Concern as saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuslim teachers, doctors, engineers, and young graduates from the northeastern province are unemployed. Isn\u2019t it better to give them a chance? There is no need for the presence of disbelievers,\u201d al-Shabaab\u2019s spokesperson, Sheikh Ali Dhere, said in an audio clip posted online.<\/p>\n
In the 20-minute clip, Dhere urged Somali-Kenyans to send all non-Muslims out if they do not leave on their own.<\/p>\n
The majority of the people living in the three counties are Somalis who fled to Kenya due to war and violence in Somalia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not news at all because the conduct of the local people here has always suggested that they want us to leave,\u201d the Rev. Cosmas Mwinzi of the Assemblies of God in Garissa was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis region has been unstable for years due to war in Somalia and hatred against non-locals who are mostly Christians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe levels of education and infrastructure in the three counties are low and it is only through the expertise and hard work of the non-locals that the living standard of the Somali people in Kenya can improve. We have non-locals in all sectors, from health to education.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Christian Post reports that three Christian teachers killed\u00a0in January in the town of Kamuthe in Garissa County during an attack on a primary school believed to have been carried out by al-Shabaab.<\/p>\n
Following the deadly attack, many non-local teachers were already being transferred to other schools outside northeastern Kenya, or teachers themselves were requesting transfers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis release is terrible news for Christians living and working in eastern Kenya,\u201d said Nathan Johnson, ICC\u2019s regional manager for Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey already live with increased fear and anxiety, as many have had to travel to find work. Now with this threat, it is clear that al-Shabaab will be increasing attacks on Christians who are simply trying to provide for their families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday, two Christians were reportedly among three people killed after suspected al-Shabaab militants attacked a bus carrying passengers to Nairobi from a market town near the Ethiopian and Somalian borders.<\/p>\n
Kenya ranks as the 44th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA\u2019s 2020 World Watch List.<\/p>\n
Al-Shabaab has\u00a0fought\u00a0for years to overthrow the Somali government. The group has been responsible for attacks on both sides of the Somalia and Kenya border as it has long vowed to retaliate against Kenya for sending in troops to Somalia to fight the group.<\/p>\n
In April 2015, al-Shabaab\u00a0carried out one of its deadliest attacks\u00a0when it stormed the campus of Garissa University. On that occasion, militants were said to have separated Muslims from non-Muslims and proceeded to execute all non-Muslim students. At least 148 people were killed in the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Church in Kenya Somalia-based terror group, al-Shabaab, has \u201cordered\u201d Christians to leave three counties in northeastern Kenyan, The Christian Post is reporting. The group, linked to al-Qaeda, said it gave the order for Christians to leave Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties to allow Muslims get all local jobs, the newspaper quoted U.S-based International Christian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"0","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}