By Gatestone Institute | Created at 2026-09-07 09:00:12 | Updated at 2026-10-02 10:32:28
3 weeks ago
The following are among the murders and abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of May 2026.
Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Nigeria: On May 3, "Muslim Fulani gunmen killed five Christians in a fresh attack on Fan village," resident Bot James reported. The victims were ambushed returning home from their businesses. Fulani assailants in the same county also killed two Christians in Kassa village on April 27 and four Christians -- while injuring five others -- in Hurum village on April 19.
On May 8, Muslim Fulani gunmen killed 13 Christians in a pre-dawn attack on the community of Ngbra Zongo in Plateau State. "The attack has left dozens of other Christians injured, hundreds of others displaced," a spokesperson for the community related. Three pregnant women were among the dead.
One resident, Lawrence Zongo, noted that the gunmen "moved from one house to another attacking the Christian victims in their homes." The same area has seen repeated assaults on Christian communities. On April 26 in the Rim area, Fulani militia killed pastor Ayuba Choji, his wife, and two children. Church leaders referred to them "martyrs whose lives were claimed by the ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria."
According to a May 20 report, a Christian mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was beheaded after Islamic terrorists attacked two secondary schools in Oyo State and kidnapped dozens of teachers and students. A video of the slaughter was later released. The coordinated assault targeted schools in predominantly Christian communities, with an estimated 39 pupils and seven teachers abducted.
On May 23, gunmen attacked an overnight prayer vigil at a church in Elerin village, Kwara State, killing three Christians and kidnapping 15 others. The assailants opened fire on worshippers before abducting members of the congregation and fleeing into nearby bushland.
On May 31, Fulani Muslim gunmen attacked the predominantly Christian village of Gwomjang in Plateau State, killing eight Christians—four men and four women—and wounding at least 15. The assault began in the evening, shortly after church services had ended, as residents were returning home. According to eyewitnesses, the attackers opened fire on civilians, then fled.
Democratic Republic of Congo: On May 13, Muslim militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic rebel group affiliated with ISIS, attacked Christians in Biakato, killing 21, and burning homes. A survivor recalled:
"The rebels came during the night and started tying people. Then they began killing many Christians who were crying to Jesus Christ. I had hidden myself under the bed. After that, I started hearing loud pangas (large knives) on Christian bodies and the cries of many people crying for help."
On May 19, the same terrorist group killed at least 17 Christians in Mambasa villages, as the region was also grappling with a fierce Ebola outbreak, compounding the humanitarian crisis.
On May 30, the same Islamic terror group killed at least seven more Christians in an overnight attack on the Ngadi neighborhood of Beni. The victims were prevented from escaping, then executed. One survivor recalled,
"They woke us up and, with an Islamic shout—'Allahu Akbar'—the shooting started, and people began to be slaughtered like animals. In the midst of the chaos, I managed to escape the camp. ... We are Pygmies. We do not know anything about politics, but they are killing us."
Kenya: According to a May 1 report, armed Muslim Somali herders stormed Kwa Kamari in Mwingi North, Kitui County, killing seven Christian farmers and burning their homes. One person was left in critical condition. A witness recalled: "It was noise at first, men chanting in Arabic, then gunshots, then shouting, then people running." A community farmer said: "These people are driving us from our own homes and farms. They kill mercilessly, leaving families turning to prayer, not knowing their fate."
According to a May 5 report, Somali terrorists, as they moved through grazing routes along local farmland, randomly shot and killed 14-year-old Christian James Mutemi. "No parent should go through this," a church leader said. The boy's mother said,
"He was my only hope. Since my husband passed away last year, he was the one I was looking up to. He was my firstborn. Now I am left with only one child, and I don't know how I will move forward. Please remember us in prayer."
The report adds,
"While Kenya is a predominantly Christian country, they often face persecution in the east, where Somali Muslims are intolerant of those who profess faith in Christ."
Pakistan: According to a May 27 report,Silas, an 18-year-old Christian, succumbed to gunshot wounds a few days after Muslim men opened fire on him and another Christian youth. Pastor Imran Amanat condemned the killing, warning,
"Christians in Pakistan continue to live in fear. Violence, harassment, and discrimination against minorities must not be ignored."
Community members described the shooting as "another painful example of the insecurity faced by Christians" and criticized what they saw as an inadequate response from authorities.
Ukraine: According to a May 23 report, the day after Easter Sunday (Orthodox calendar) a Christian was attacked "by two other men of another faith," after greeting those around him with the traditional Easter proclamation, "Christ is risen!" According to one report, the greeting "provoked the anger of a 19-year-old visitor of a different faith." An argument followed, during which the man "decided to kill his Christian adversary" by repeatedly stabbing him in the neck and abdomen. The attackers fled only after "assuring that their adversary was no longer alive." The victim survived the assault—barely. Prosecutors requested, and the court ordered, that the two suspects be held in pretrial detention without the possibility of bail. If convicted, they face life imprisonment. A pixillated image of the two bearded suspects suggests possible Middle Eastern and/or Chechnyan origins.
Afghanistan: According to a May 1 report,
"Being known as a Christian in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan brings lethal danger... The Taliban reportedly searched door to door and through smartphones, hunting for any signs of Christian conversion.... In reality, there are still believers. But they live completely underground... [Christian worship] survives in silence and fear..... Even in Western countries, the struggle does not fully end... When other Afghans realize someone is not Muslim, reactions can change instantly... Many never fully feel safe, even after reaching the West. Being an Afghan Christian is not just a religious identity. It is a condition of constant caution... Even outside Afghanistan, the fear does not disappear."
Pakistan: The Muslim Abduction, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christian Girls
On May 6, a court rejected the official government birth record of Sonia Tariq, a Christian girl who was abducted as a minor, pressured to convert to Islam, and forced into marriage. Although Sonia claimed she was 20, had converted voluntarily, and did not wish to return to her Christian family, Supreme Court attorney, Saqib Jillani, said those statements were made under duress, and that Sonia was only 13 when she began working at a Lahore beauty parlor, where she was pressured to embrace Islam. After she disappeared on Nov. 7, 2024, her father initially reported her missing. "A few days later," said Jillani, "Nadeem named Sonia's Muslim co-worker, Ayesha Akram, her father Akram Barkat and another person, Zulfiqar Dogar, accusing them of abducting her for sexual exploitation under the guise of Islamic conversion and marriage." Sonia's father said police repeatedly refused to help recover her:
"They kept telling me that she had converted to Islam and married of her own free will. They did not show us any evidence of her marriage but kept pressuring me to stop searching for her. It is quite clear that she is under their influence and pressure, which is why she insists on staying with them."
According to a May 11 report, another Christian girl, 16-year-old Jia Liaqat, disappeared from her family home in Punjab while her parents were working in a Muslim landowner's fields. "We immediately filed a First Information Report (FIR) regarding Jia's abduction with the Burewala Police Station the same day," her father Liaqat Masih of the Anglican Church of Pakistan, said, "but the police did not make any effort to trace her whereabouts."On April 8 the family received a WhatsApp call from a Muslim man identifying himself as Sohail Riaz, based in Dubai. He claimed Jia was in his custody and warned them against pursuing the case. Masih said Riaz had contacted her through social media and "groomed her for sexual exploitation under the guise of marriage." Police later informed the family that she had been converted to Islam and entered into an online Nikah (Islamic marriage) with Riaz on April 15. After the family complained about police inaction, the officers grew hostile. On May 4 Jia appeared before a magistrate without her family present and stated she was an adult who had converted to Islam and married Riaz of her own free will. The suspects were released. "There's no justice for the poor in our country, especially for those belonging to minority communities," Masih said:
"My daughter is a minor and cannot legally marry, but neither the police nor the court felt the need to verify her age. Every day we worry about what will happen to her if we cannot rescue her from the custody of her abductors."
On May 12, "a married Muslim abducted a 14-year-old [Christian] girl... forcibly converted her to Islam and married her, exploiting her medical and mental health vulnerabilities to sexually abuse." Nisha Bibi's father, Abbas Masih of a local Brethren church, said CCTV showed her leaving with a middle-aged man later identified as 41-year-old married Muslim Arshad Habib, who already had three wives and children from those marriages. "My daughter's medical condition made her an easy target," Masih said. Police later presented documents claiming Nisha had converted to Islam and married Habib three days later. "We were shocked to see an alleged conversion certificate and marriage documents presented as proof that my daughter willingly converted and married the accused," Masih said. "These documents appear to have been fabricated to shield him from criminal prosecution." The family's lawyer, Zunara Patrick, said a purported magistrate statement claimed that the 14-year-old Nisha was actually 18, had converted and married voluntarily, and sought protection from her family. Patrick rejected it as fraudulent:
"These actions indicate a deliberate pattern of targeting vulnerable young women for sexual exploitation. In this case, the accused appears to have used religious conversion and marriage as a cover to avoid prosecution."
Muslim Attacks on Converts to Christianity
Somalia: On May 28, four Muslim relatives severely beat a 22-year-old Somali Christian woman, Sofia Ahmed, for leaving Islam and embracing Christianity. Sofia was attacked at her home after her uncle repeatedly questioned her about her faith. When he returned with three other male relatives and again demanded to know if she had converted to Christianity, Ahmed said, "I kept quiet," at which point they immediately jumped her. According to the report,
"The relatives beat her with sticks and struck her nose with a sharp object... The attack drew the attention of neighbors who came in large numbers, seized the assailants and called police. Officers arrived and arrested the four men, but Ahmed's Muslim parents intervened and persuaded police to release them..."
According to a local Christian leader,
"Family members later advocated for the release of the suspects, believing the actions were justified because of Ahmed's decision to leave Islam and embrace Christianity."
Sofia underwent two surgeries and, last reported, was still hospitalized.
Uganda: On May 2, Muslim in-laws of a recent convert to Christianity lured him to their home and beat him unconscious. Ochora Awali, a 28-year-old father of one, was last reported as still receiving hospital treatment for serious head injuries. Awali converted to Christianity on December 31 during a prayer gathering. After his conversion, his wife left with their child to live with her parents. On May 2 his brother-in-law, Werikhe Aramanzan, called claiming the child was critically ill. "He pretended to be crying on the phone so that I could believe the situation was serious," Awali said. The concerned father rushed to the home with his church pastor. Upon arrival the in-laws told him to enter alone:
"They started asking me why I left Islam and joined Christianity. They accused me of bringing shame to the family and spoiling their daughter."
Before he could fully respond, several relatives attacked him. "One jumped on me and started boxing me, while others entered with sticks and beat me badly," Awali said. The beating left him unconscious. The pastor fled for help. When Awali regained consciousness he was in a clinic, crying in pain, unsure who had brought him there or where his friend was.
A May 21 report disclosed that two Christian converts were finally released after spending nearly two years in prison "following their decision to leave Islam and embrace Christianity." Their imprisonment had begun after relatives and other members of the Muslim community falsely connected them to a criminal case in order to punish them for abandoning Islam. Their case highlights how imprisonment, legal harassment, and pressure from families and local communities can be used against those who embrace Christianity. Rather than abandoning their new faith, the converts remained steadfast throughout their incarceration.
Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches
Mozambique: On April 30, jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State torched the historic Catholic church of St. Louis of Montfort in Meza. The terrorists set fire to the church, parish buildings, and countless homes. Archbishop Antonio Juliasse described it as "a terrifying scene, houses and infrastructure destroyed, a historic parish reduced to rubble." Captured Christians were also "forced to listen to the jihadists' proclamations of hatred." Over the last nine years, more than 300 Christians have been killed, continued the archbishop, adding, "most of them with their throats slit," and "at least 117 churches and chapels destroyed, 23 of them in 2025 alone.
Nigeria: According to a May 20 report, armed Fulani herders ransacked and partially burned the Catholic Church of Saint James the Greater in Adu, Taraba State. They "attacked the church, causing significant damage: broken windows, vandalized parish buildings, and the priest's residence was damaged." The assault was described as "precise and coordinated," matching a security warning issued four days earlier.
Syria: According to a May 13 statement from the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, a potential disaster was narrowly averted in the Muslim majority nation, when a suspicious object fell from a hearse transporting the body of a parishioner to St. Ephrem the Syrian Cathedral for a funeral. What fell was described as "a small, strange object, wrapped in a black bag and securely sealed with clear tape." After the hearse arrived, police and security forces were summoned, closed the road, and called in a bomb squad, suspecting it "might be an explosive device."
Indonesia: According to a May 4 report, the Toraja Church congregation in Sungai Keledang was blocked from constructing a house of worship despite completing all administrative and technical requirements in 2025, including recommendations from the Interfaith Harmony Forum and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Local government withheld the building permit due to opposition from local community groups, who held banners that read, "We, all Muslims, strongly reject the establishment of a church/prayer house or any activities in our neighborhood." Rev. Hendra Kusuma of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief said:
"If every church that meets the requirements is denied a permit due to pressure from rejection, how long will the church receive its rights and justice?"
Pastor Meliasni Panggalo said:
"Our services are held outdoors, next to, under the pastorate. The congregation desperately needs a permanent church building so that worship services are not disturbed by the weather."
On Sunday, May 24, Muslims again disrupted Christian worship when members of the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) and other local Muslims forced a Christian church to halt its Sunday service in Yogyakarta. The mob entered the church, shouted "Allahu Akbar," and threatened worshippers, while police just looked on, prompting the congregation to flee. One Muslim member of the mob warned,
"If the police weren't there, you wouldn't be standing here forever. If the police leave you for more than 24 hours, I will burn this church down."
A church member recalled, "Suddenly, they entered the building, wearing FJI T-shirts and jackets. They forced us to stop the service. There were many children and elderly people in the church, and the atmosphere was very tense."
According to a May 15 report, construction of the Indonesian Pentecostal Church (GPI) in Tanjung Senang Village, Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, has been blocked for 22 years since plans began in 2004, when the building under construction was torched. No one was ever arrested.
Azerbaijan: According to a May 5 report, authorities completely demolished the Holy Mother of God Cathedral (the main Armenian Apostolic cathedral) and St. Hakob Church in Stepanakert, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Satellite imagery has confirmed both Christian sites were razed to the ground, leaving only paved or cleared ground. The cathedral, consecrated only in 2019, had been the city's primary place of worship. The demolition followed the 2023 Azerbaijani military takeover that forced more than 120,000 Armenian Christians to flee. Armenian sources described it as part of a deliberate campaign to erase Christian Armenian spiritual presence and historical memory from the region.
Pakistan: A May 22 report noted that police, despite a Supreme Court order on March 31 to do so, as well as vast video and photo evidence, failed to arrest most suspects in Muslim mob attacks, on dozens of churches and Christian homes in Jaranwala, Punjab, on August 16, 2023. The violence erupted after two Christians were accused of desecrating the Koran and insulting Islam's prophet—allegations a court later ruled were fabricated after a personal dispute. Rev. Khalid Mukhtar, whose parish house was destroyed, said :
"Despite providing police with video and photographic evidence identifying many of those involved, there has been no meaningful progress in arrests. We have met senior police officials several times since the ruling, but their assurances have not translated into concrete action."
Police and intelligence reports estimated more than 5,000 Muslims participated in the rioting, arson, and church attacks. Nearly 400 were initially arrested, but most later received bail, acquittal, or discharge. Of 336 suspects charged, only one remains in prison.
France: On May 4, vandals decapitated a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in Poleymieux-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon. The heads of both figures were smashed removed and found at the base of the monument. Mayor Corinne Cardona condemned the attack as "absolutely scandalous and appalling." Local residents also reacted with shock and anger over the desecration.
On May 25, intruders vandalized the Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens in Mérens, damaging statues, scattering liturgical objects across the floor, and breaking at least one stained-glass window. The church remains an active place of Catholic worship, regularly used for baptisms, marriages, funerals, and Mass. Discussing the daily desecration of churches in France, the Tribune Chrétienne asked:
"How many more churches must be desecrated before the nation fully grasps the gravity of these acts? For when a statue of Christ or the Virgin Mary is broken, when a consecrated place is deliberately vandalized, it is not merely stone, wood, or glass that is being attacked. It is a memory, a faith, and a civilization that some seem intent on trampling."
Italy: According to a May 11 report,
"Following similar incidents in Frosinone – involving a statue of the Virgin Mary and one of Padre Pio – in another town in Lazio, two Christian statues located in oratories were found decapitated in mid-April. CCTV footage implicates a woman, her head covered with a hood, wearing glasses."
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
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