Analysis: African Christians Face Escalating Targeting By Jihadis – MEMRI | Middle East Media Research Institute

For the past five years, MEMRI has been monitoring, tracking, researching, and publishing reports and video clips documenting the escalating campaign of violence against Christian communities across Africa, and alerting the Christian world to it – long before this crisis has received wider recognition in policy circles or media. This past month, jihadi groups’ brutal targeting of Christians across the continent has finally drawn attention, including from Senator Ted Cruz and President Trump.
While others have been focusing solely on Gaza, MEMRI has, in addition to our Gaza focus, been monitoring primary-source messaging, recruitment materials, and claims of attacks by jihadi groups operating across Africa – not only in Nigeria, but also across the African Sahel, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – showing that they are explicitly framing Christians as strategic targets in their ideological and military campaigns.
For example, just this week, on November 14 and 15, Islamic State (ISIS) African affiliates in Central Africa (ISCAP), Mozambique (ISMP) and West Africa (ISWAP) took credit, in a post on X, for having killed 33 Christians, including three who were beheaded, and for burning down more than 150 homes and three churches in Mozambique, Nigeria, and the DRC.
Only recently, as casualty numbers rise, mass displacement worsens, and these groups expand into new regions, have governments and global institutions begun to acknowledge the true scale and intent of this threat. As policymakers turn their attention to it, the path forward should emphasize strengthening on-the-ground intelligence sharing, supporting local security forces and community resilience efforts, and prioritizing research that tracks ideological messaging – not just battlefield activity – so that emerging threats can be identified before they escalate further.
MEMRI research has shown that a “typical day” for Christians in Africa under ISIS incursions often includes being forced to pay the jizyah poll tax imposed on non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, facing a choice between conversion to Islam or death, witnessing their churches destroyed and villages burned, and seeing their priests and nuns beheaded or otherwise murdered. While most of these attacks are carried out by ISIS affiliates, others are perpetrated by Al-Qaeda and its supporters in the region, or by Islamist Fulani militias that continue to target Christian communities.
Not a day goes by without the MEMRI JTTM team documenting jihadi reports of attacks on African Christians. Yet this ongoing terror and slaughter of Christians outside the West has largely gone unnoticed, with little to no action from those who have the power to speak out or intervene.
This silence, and this absence of any serious statement or plan to help, extends to the United Nations, the African Union, the South African military, the Vatican, and Pope Francis himself, as well as to organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the NAACP. Likewise, no statements have come from Black Lives Matter, members of the “Squad” in Congress, or self-described “genocide” scholars who focus so vocally on Gaza.
Highlighting how jihadis are targeting Christians, the pro-ISIS Hadm Al-Aswar Foundation released a poster on its Telegram channel titled “The Only Solution for Christians.” The August 2024 image depicted an ISIS operative removing a cross from a church roof, a raised index finger symbolizing Islamic monotheism – a gesture commonly used by ISIS – and a hand appearing to pay the jizyah. The poster included text from an editorial titled “Jihad in the Congo,” published in Issue 448 of the ISIS weekly Al-Naba, in which ISIS issued an ultimatum: Christians must “either convert to Islam or pay jizyah; otherwise [ISIS] will continue to execute them, burn their homes and businesses, and plunder their properties.” It concluded with the statement: “The path is clearly defined with its means and goals, and the soldiers of the Islamic State cannot deviate from it.”

Another poster showing how jihadi groups in Africa are trying to terrorize the Christians was published October 6, 2025. This piece of propaganda, produced by ISIS supporters and quoting a translated excerpt from the group’s official newsletter, addressed “Christians of Africa who wish to be safe and escape the cycle of killing,” offering a stark ultimatum: Convert to Islam, pay the jizya tax to Muslims, or die.

The pro-ISIS media outlet Halummu released an English translation of a Murhafat Foundation booklet titled “Retouching Naba Editorial 507 – The Light of Jihad” on November 14. The booklet features an English translation of the editorial from Issue 507 of Al-Naba celebrating attacks on Christians by ISIS affiliates in the DRC and Mozambique. Alongside the text are photos of armed ISIS fighters and of executions, including a beheading.

Responding to President Trump’s threats of military intervention to protect Nigeria’s Christians, Issue 520 of Al-Naba’, released November 6, 2025, framed these threats as part of a broader “Crusader” campaign against Islam. The editorial stated that the Trump administration, which is “influenced by evangelical Christians” and “influential Jews,” is driven by both religious and electoral concerns to wage war on Muslims. It further advised ISIS fighters, particularly in West Africa, to take precautions – dispersing into small, mobile units, mastering camouflage, and avoiding phone use – to counter potential U.S. military operations, adding that such measures should be implemented across all ISIS-controlled regions in Africa.
The following images, from jihadi media outlets, document the ongoing violence and persecution of Christians in Africa.
FORCED CONVERSION TO ISLAM
ISIS in Central Africa boasts that “dozens” Of Congolese Christians have accepted Islam, September 26, 2025.[1]

Photo from the report in Al-Naba Issue 462 showing mujahideen leading the formerly Christian captives in prayer.[2]

MURDERING CHRISTIANS
ISIS fighters behead two Christian men in Mozambique, March 17, 2024[3]

ISIS beheading a Christian during a series of attacks on Christian villages in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, August 2, 2025.[4]

ISIS Central Africa photoset documenting the aftermath of successive attacks against Christian villages in the Beni region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), March 16, 2023.[5]

ISIS beheading a Christian during an attack on a Christian village in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, November 13, 2022.[6]

ISIS beheading a Christian during an attack on a Christian village in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, November 13, 2022.[7]

ISIS fighters execute Christians in Uganda, September 26, 2025.[8]

ISIS attacked several Christian villages in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, killing at least four Christian civilians and burning homes, June 4, 2022.[9]

BURNING CHURCHES
ISIS burns a church in Mozambique, September 30, 2025.[10]

Burning churches in Borno state, Nigeria, December 30, 2021, and in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, June 20, 2022.[11]

ISIS fighters attacked a Christian town in Borno, Nigeria, torching a church and several homes, January 24, 2022.[12]

ISIS West Africa attacked the Christian village of Biljoum in Borno State, Nigeria, burning down its church, September 21, 2022.[13]

ISIS West Africa attacked the Christian village of Bijibiji near Adamawa, Nigeria, burning down a church and several homes on April 18, 2022.[14]

ISIS Central Africa burnt the homes of Christians in a village in Ituri State, DRC, April 11, 2022.[15]

[1] Special Dispatch No. 12188, In First Video In Three Years, Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) Calls On Muslims To Join Jihad In The DRC To ‘Punish Crusaders’; Showcases Execution, Forced Conversion Of Christians, September 26, 2025.
[2] Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Praises Group’s Operations In Democratic Republic Of The Congo (DRC), Warns Christians: Either Convert To Islam, Pay Jizyah Tax, Or Die, June 21, 2024.
[3] MEMRI Daily Brief No. 585, Silence Speaks: A Good Friday Reflection On The Islamic State’s Persecution Of African Christians, March 28, 2024.
[4] MEMRI JTTM Report WARNING: GRAPHIC – Islamic State (ISIS) Mozambique, Central Africa Provinces Release Photos Documenting Attacks On Christian Villages In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, DRC’s Ituri Provinces, August 4, 2025.
[5] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[6] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[7] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[8] Special Dispatch No. 12188, In First Video In Three Years, Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) Calls On Muslims To Join Jihad In The DRC To ‘Punish Crusaders’; Showcases Execution, Forced Conversion Of Christians, September 26, 2025.
[9] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[10] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 12196, WARNING—GRAPHIC: Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) Documents Beheading, Shooting Christians, Burning Churches And Homes In Country’s North; Over 30 Beheaded In September, October 2, 2025.
[11] MEMRI Daily Brief No. 690, On Christmas, Where Is The Outrage? As Jihadi Persecution Of African Christians Continues – From Torching Churches And Terrorizing Villagers To Beheading And Murdering Nuns And Priests – Not A Peep Is Heard From Those Who Should Be Leading Efforts To Protect Them – The Pope, The UN, The NAACP, And African American Activists And Organizations Such As Black Lives Matter And Ta-Nehisi Coates, December 24, 2024.
[12] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[13] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[14] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
[15] MEMRI JTTM Report ISIS In Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique): Targeting Christians – Killing, Beheading, Murdering Priests And Nuns, Burning Churches, Health Clinics, And Homes – As The World Is Largely Silent – WARNING: GRAPHIC ‎CONTENT, June 16, 2023.
 
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