November 18, 2025
By Ayinde Adeleke
The Islamic State (ISIS) has reportedly called on its militants to carry out mass killings of Christians in Africa, framing targeted genocide as an act of “loyalty.” According to recent reports, ISIS militants are being urged to “butcher” Christians, with the group claiming that non-believers must either convert, pay a religious tax, or “die and be expelled.”
In its propaganda, ISIS reportedly celebrates what it describes as a religious war, praising the killing of Christians as a righteous and loyal act. Critics argue that this message reveals the group’s willingness to openly justify large-scale violence against Christian populations under the guise of religious duty.
The violence is not just rhetoric: according to a report by La Razón, ISIS has intensified its targeting of Christians in several African countries.
Independent monitoring groups also document a sharp increase in ISIS-linked attacks against Christian communities across Africa. MEMRI reports that in the first half of 2024 alone, ISIS claimed responsibility for the deaths of 698 Christians in Africa, many in Nigeria, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cameroon, and Mali.
Other sources confirm that in its weekly publication Al-Naba, ISIS has glorified attacks on churches and Christian civilians. For example, in Mozambique, the group’s local affiliate (ISMP) claimed to have burnt more than 900 homes, 21 churches, and 12 schools belonging to Christians, according to MEMRI.
The scale and intensity of the persecution have prompted alarm from human rights observers, faith-based groups, and religious freedom advocates. Critics argue that these systematic attacks amount to a confessionally motivated campaign of terror against Christian communities in sub-Saharan Africa, a “war” that the world is not addressing forcefully enough.
