NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, the country’s Orthodox Church said, urging authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Holy Synod said Monday that 14 people were killed in Merti district on Oct. 20 and a further 46 in Shirka district on Oct. 24. Both districts are in Oromia’s Arsi Zone.

More than 20 people were seriously wounded and 20 homes were burned down, the church said, describing the killings as “brutal and merciless massacres.”

Oromia regional government spokesperson Hailu Adugna blamed the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, for the attacks. He accused the rebels and their allies of trying to provoke ethnic and religious conflict to divert attention from military losses in northern Ethiopia. He presented no evidence supporting the accusations in the statement.

Adugna expressed sorrow over the deaths and destruction and said that regional authorities had begun taking action against those responsible. He pledged assistance to people wounded or displaced.

The OLA couldn't be reached for comment. Its leader, Kumsa Diriba, also known as Jaal Marroo, denied that his fighters target civilians in an interview with The Associated Press published in February.

“Our war is not against the people,” he said at the time.

The OLA is one of seven groups in the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, formed in September with the aim of removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. Other members include the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Amhara Fano National Movement.

Jordan says it attacked militants in Syria tied to church assault

Jordan carried out airstrikes Monday evening against armed groups in Syria in retaliation for Friday’s attack on a Greek Orthodox Church in the southern Jordanian city of Karak that killed nine people, the Jordanian air force said in a statement.

It said the operation “resulted in the killing and wounding of many members of these terrorist groups and the destruction of a number of their vehicles.” It did not specify who the groups were or the precise location of the strikes.

The operation sparked an outcry in Syria, where officials said the Jordanian operation killed several civilians and was carried out without notifying Syrian authorities.

At least 62 people killed in attack on a community in northeastern Nigeria

At least 62 people have been killed after gunmen attacked a community in northeastern Nigeria, the country’s emergency agency said Tuesday.

The attack, reportedly carried out by criminals known as bandits, happened on Friday in Binnari community located in the Karim-Lamido local government area of Taraba state, and also wounded 52 other people and displaced thousands, according to Ladan Ayuba, the state head of the National Emergency Management Agency.

Attacks by bandits are common across northern Nigeria where armed groups carry out attacks against civilian populations. - AP

Social Media - Psalms144 on X

This is the cost of following Jesus Christ in Nigeria today. Pastors bury their people and still stand in the pulpit and preach. Pray for Rev. Dachomo and the persecuted Church in Nigeria. They are not forgotten. The Lord sees every tear. "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15 

Nigeria government responding better to terrorism, but killings, abductions up, report says 

The Nigerian government has improved its response to terrorism, Open Doors U.S. said Sept. 3 in a report on the African nation, noting concurrent increases in killings and abductions compromise the government’s effectiveness.

Civilian deaths increased 51 percent and abductions rose 153 percent between October and December 2025, compared to the same period a year before, researchers said. Months later, beginning in April, the government began arresting and convicting Boko Haram terrorists and others of related crimes. Among prosecutions, courts sentenced a terrorist to death, two Boko Haram terrorists to life imprisonment, and several others to jail terms of 20 years or more. Other arrests are ongoing, researchers said.

Specifically, 1,735 civilians including Christians were killed October through December 2025, compared to 1,148 killed in the same period in 2024. Abductions rose more, from 1,352 to 3,415, Open Doors said, citing several sources in the report, including the tracking and advocacy groups Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data and others, as well as news reports and government releases.

The violence is shifting the landscape of the Church in Nigeria as Christians are killed or internally displaced. An estimated 3.8 million individuals were internally displaced as of April, in addition to more than 405,000 who have fled to Niger, Chad and Cameroon.  - Baptist Press

Amir Aman Kiyaro contributed to this report from Hamburg, Germany - AP