The bodies of 43 farmers are buried in Borno State, Nigeria on Nov 29, 2020 (Borno State Government, via bbc.com)
At least 140 people are dead after brazen attacks on different sides of the Muslim World this weekend. In Afghanistan’s restive Ghazni province, Islamic militants infiltrated an Afghan army base and detonated a Humvee in a suicide attack, followed by a firefight that killed at least 30 Afghan soldiers and other personnel. Another suicide attack in the nation’s south targeted a government official, killing at least three and wounding over 20 more.
Ghazni is one of the most heavily disputed provinces in Afghanistan, with the Taliban controlling more than half of its territory. The targeted base sits along a strategic road between the capital city of Kabul and the southern front. The attack comes as peace talks are ongoing between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar. Despite the fact that the Taliban has not honored the ceasefire negotiated in February, the Pentagon has announced its intention to continue the drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan from current levels of about 4,000 to less than 2,500 by January 15, 2021.
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On Saturday, a unit of Boko Haram militants in Nigeria’s border province of Borno attacked a village of farmers in the town of Koshobe. Boko Haram, translated into English as “Western Education is Sin,” swore alliance to the Islamic State (ISIS) after the former caliphate’s rise to power in 2014, rebranding itself as Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP). The militant group has been conducting a systematic campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing for more than a decade in the Muslim-majority northern provinces of Nigeria, targeting Christians and moderate Muslims who they perceive to be agents of the government.
During the Koshobe attack, dozens of farmers accused of being government spies were lined up and summarily executed, having their throats slit by militants. At least 110 were suspected killed in the attack, with Nigeria’s president expressing his condolences and calling for justice against the perpetrators. After a lull in violence, Boko Haram has roared back in 2020, stepping up the frequency and size of its attacks in Borneo, after a military coalition between Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon has failed to stamp out the jihadist group.
We appeal to the FAI family to be in prayer for the people of Afghanistan and Nigeria today. The edges of the Muslim world are bloody, as jihadists continue to attempt to expand the borders of the House of Islam in Asia and Africa, and to attack both Muslims and non-Muslims who oppose their efforts at conquest and subjugation. We pray that regional governments would be granted the integrity, wisdom and courage to confront such demonic violence and hatred, and that the Lord of the Harvest would send his Laborers into these areas of persistent conflict and suffering.
Maranatha.
