Missionaries of Charity attack in Aden

Part of Yemen Civil War and Aden unrest
Location Aden, Yemen
Date March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04)
Target Christians
Weapons Firearms
Deaths 16
Suspected perpetrators
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Number of participants
 4

The Missionaries of Charity attack in Aden was a Mass murder crime committed by ISIS gunmen inside a home of elderly in Aden in 4 March 2016.[1] 16 were killed including four Catholic nuns.[2] An Indian priest, Tom Ozhonaniel, was kidnapped.[3] The identities of the attackers are unknown, and media outlets published a statement attributed to Ansar al-Sharia, one of the active jihadist organizations in the country, denies it's relation to the incident.[4][5]

The Times of India posited the attackers belonged to the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS) group. without pointing to a source for confirmation.[6][1][7]

Background

Christian presence in Yemen goes back to the fourth century AD to hold a number of Himyarites believers due to the efforts of Theophilos the Indian. Currently, there are no official statistics on their numbers, but estimated at between 3,000 to 25,000 people,[8] and most of them are refugees or temporary residents. Freedom of worship, conversion from Islam and establishing facilities dedicated for worship are not recognized in the Constitution and laws rights.[9] At the same time, Wahabbi activities linked to Al-Islah was beening facilitated, financed and encouraged from multiple fronts including the Ministry of Endowments and Guidance,[10] which says that its tasks "to contribute to the development of Islamic awareness and circulation of the publication Education and Islamic morals and consolidation in the life of public and private citizens."[11]

The Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa in Aden have worked since 1992, and it has three other centers in Sana'a, Taiz and Hodeidah. Three Catholic nuns killed in Hodeidah in 1998, two from India and the third from Philippines at the hands of a member of Al-Islah Abdullah al-Nashiri, arguing that they were calling to Christianity. In 2002, three Americans were killed in Baptists Hospital at the hands of another Al-Islah member named Abed Abdul Razak Kamel.[12] Survivors say that the hospital was "a political football" often raised by Islamists (Al-Islah), who talked about it in mosques and hospital workers describing Hospital workers as "spies." But they emphasized that these opinions are a minority among Yemenis.[13] In December 2015, an old Catholic church in Aden was destroyed.[14]

Since the escalation of the Yemeni crisis in March 2015, six priests from John Bosco remained, and twenty workers of charitable missions in the country, described by Pope Francis by the courage to fortitude amid war and conflict. He called the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia to pray for all the oppressed and tortured, expelled from their homes, and killed unjustly.[15] In all cases, regardless of the values and ethics of the warring forces in Yemen on religious freedom, it is proved that the Missionaries of Charity were not active in the field of evangelization according to the testimonies of beneficiaries of its services.[13][16]

The Attack

The attack on the house took place in 12 PM, when two armed men claimed they were going to visit their elderly mother aimed at persuading the guards to open the main gate. Once they entered, they began to shoot randomly, according to Indian officials at the Foreign Ministry.[17]

Inside the building, nuns were preparing the breakfast food for guests, four of the five nuns felt the danger and tried to hide in a convent, where nuns were downed by bullets in an open area. All rooms were stormed and the tent of meeting was destroyed, as well as statues and crucifixes in the small church. Some of the dead hands were tied back and shot on their heads, images of the bodies of the victims and their hands tied to the back amid small pool of blood. In one of the pictures, show two women dressed in nuns laid ground in a dirt yard with blood on the head cover from the back, which means that the killer led them to the scene and shot execution-style at close range. The attackers, dressed in uniform, "semi-blue".[17]

According to Catholic News Agency, the last prayers by the nuns before they were killed says[18]

“Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward.”

Sunita Kumar, a spokesman for the charity's mission described the killers as "demented", adding "there is no other explanation as to why armed people would enter the premises of the home and shoot down innocent, harmless nurses who had dedicated their lives to serving others".[17] Bishop Michael Lewis of the Anglican Church said that the house contained seventy or eighty elderly people, many destitute.[19] The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin commented, saying that Pope Francis prays that this pointless slaughter will awaken consciences, lead to a change of heart and inspire all parties to lay down their arms and take up the path of dialogue.[4]

Francis described the crime as "satanic", he said that the nuns were "martyrs of today", adding that they were killed by the attackers and "globalization of indifference," as he said. Statement was published:[20]

“In the name of God, he calls upon all parties in the present conflict to renounce violence, and to renew their commitment to the people of Yemen, particularly those most in need, whom the Sisters and their helpers sought to serve.”

The Missionaries of Charity announced that it would continue its work in Yemen despite the local conditions.[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Gunmen Kill 16 at Nursing Home in Yemen Started by Mother Teresa". The New York Times. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Here are the faces of the nuns who were martyred in Yemen". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  3. ↑ William Watkinson. "Yemen: Gunmen kidnap Indian priest from care home where 16 including 4 nuns were slaughtered". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 Faith Karimi, CNN (6 March 2016). "Al Qaeda denies link to attack that killed nuns in Yemen". CNN. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Missing Indian priest in Yemen abducted by 'terrorists': Sushma Swaraj". Hindustantimes. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Senior Indian nun of Yemen aid home to be evacuated". The Times of India. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Al-Qaeda Denies Responsibility for Nun Massacre in Yemen". Breitbart. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Yemen". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  9. ↑ http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/193127.pdf
  10. ↑ Shelagh Weir (2009). "A Tribal Order: Politics and Law in the Mountains of Yemen". University of Texas Press. p. 296. ISBN 9780292773974. These activities were encouraged and financed, as elsewhere in Yemen, by the then Wahhabi-controlled Ministry of Religious Guidance (irsha ̄d), by Saudi and Yemeni business figures and by the Yemeni Reform Grouping islah
  11. ↑ "وزارة الأوقاف والإرشاد". Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Evan Kohlmann (17 January 2003). "National Review Online". National Review Online. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Nine Bullets That Ended Baptists' Work in Yemen". The New York Times. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Saleh al-Batati in Yemen and Asa Fitch in Dubai (6 March 2016). "Gunmen Kill 16 at Yemeni Home for the Elderly". WSJ. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Catholics in Yemen". America Magazine. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Three American Missionaries Killed in Yemen Hospital". Fox News. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 "Indian nun among 16 killed by gunmen in Yemen; victims handcuffed, shot in the head". The Indian Express. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "There's no question – the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen 'died as martyrs'". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  19. ↑ "Prayers offered after killing of nuns in Yemen". Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "Pope Francis says nuns killed in Yemen attack are victims of ‘the globalization of indifference.’". America Magazine. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Missionaries of Charity pledge to continue work in Yemen". Retrieved 11 April 2016.
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