Around 90% of Malians are Muslim. About five percent adhere to traditional African religions. The other five percent are Christian; about two-thirds are Roman Catholic and the rest Protestant. “Support us or flee”: Islamic extremists issue ultimatum to Mali Christians,” Open Doors UK, August 30, 2024:

Christians in central Mali have been given an ultimatum by terrorists – help in their fight against the country’s military power or leave their homes and communities.

Pastors in Mopti region were summoned by the Islamic extremists and given three options if they wanted to stay in the area, according to Open Doors sources. Their three options were:

• provide men to fight against the army
• give the jihadists money to hire mercenaries, or
• convert to Islam and close their churches.

The pastors were told that, if they failed to comply, they should leave their homes immediately. The implication was clearly a threat of violence if they did not – and violence from Islamic militants is the major cause of persecution against Christians in Mali. It is currently number 14 on the World Watch List, having risen three places in the past year.

“Nothing has happened on this scale before”

“Christians are very worried about this new development and are taking the threat seriously,” says Pastor Charles Yabaga Diarra*, who fled his hometown of Timbuktu in 2012 when it fell to Tuareg rebels, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).

He adds, “Nothing has happened on this scale before. Because the jihadists conquered the land, they feel it belongs to them, so they are telling the Christians to pay them a Zakat tax which is an Islamic tithe. Muslims and animists are already paying it.”

It is not clear which terrorist group summoned the pastors, but they are most likely to have been from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM)….