US Senate Committee Chair Condemns Killings of Christians in Nigeria and Across Africa as ISIS Beheads 30 in Mozambique

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) has condemned the escalating persecution of Christians across Africa, describing it as a “disgrace” and calling for urgent global action. His statement followed reports that ISIS-linked militants in northern Mozambique recently beheaded more than 30 Christians, burned churches, and displaced tens of thousands of residents.

“Faith should never be a death sentence,” Senator Risch wrote Thursday on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account. “Across parts of Africa, Christians are hunted, butchered, and terrorized for their beliefs while the world looks away. In countries like Nigeria, DR Congo, and Mozambique, they are targeted by terrorists, exploited by elites, and abandoned by their governments. This is not just a tragedy. It is a disgrace. Action is long overdue.”

The senator was responding to a report by The Evangelical Voice For Today, which detailed a wave of brutal attacks in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces. The ISIS affiliate known as Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) released graphic photos showing the executions and destruction. Witnesses said militants set fire to churches in several villages, including Nacocha, Nacussa, and Minhanha, and destroyed more than 100 homes in Nakioto alone.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, ISMP claimed responsibility for multiple killings in late September, including the beheading of two Christians in Chiure-Velho village and several others in Macomia Town. Since 2017, ISMP attacks have killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over one million in northern Mozambique. The group has pledged allegiance to ISIS and aims to establish a strict Islamic caliphate, explicitly calling for the murder of Christians under its campaign titled *“Kill Them Wherever You Find Them.”*

Mozambique renewed a security agreement with Rwanda in August to continue joint counterterrorism operations in Cabo Delgado, where Rwandan forces have been deployed since 2021.

The latest violence comes amid worsening religious persecution across the continent. According to Open Doors International’s 2025 *World Watch List*, Mozambique now ranks as the 37th most difficult place in the world to be a Christian, up from 39th last year. More than 100 churches were attacked or closed in the past year, and Christian converts from Islam continue to face violence, forced marriages, and loss of inheritance rights.

Senator Risch’s remarks align with broader concern in Washington about religious violence in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has led calls for accountability, introducing the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which seeks to classify Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and sanction officials complicit in anti-Christian violence. Cruz claims that more than 52,000 Christians have been killed and 20,000 churches destroyed in Nigeria since 2009.

The U.S. State Department’s 2023 *International Religious Freedom Report* similarly documented widespread attacks on Nigerian Christian communities by Boko Haram and Fulani militants, accusing Nigerian authorities of failing to prevent or prosecute such crimes.