A Muslim mob February 26 assaulted and wounded 17 Christian college students on a mission trip in Oma village, Ethiopia. The mob overwhelmed the government militia who attempted to protect the students, reports Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service. International Christian Concern(ICC) --www.persecution.org -- says the students, who were from Meda Welabu University, went to the Muslim village in Bale province on a short term mission trip. According to a media update from ICC, after the students started to distribute Bibles and speak with the Muslims, one of the villagers angrily argued with them, inciting a mob to attack the students. The Muslims shouted Allah Akbar (God is great) as they hurled stones at the Christians and beat them with rods. When the Christians fled the village, the mob unsuccessfully attempted to set fire to their car, ICC reported. Speaking with ICC, one of the victims who wanted to remain anonymous said, “We thank God that no one was killed. It’s sad that we suffered the attacks despite the Ethiopian laws which say there is freedom of religion and equality in the country.” According to the 2007 National Census, Christians make up 62.8 percent of Ethiopia’s population and Muslims make up 33.9 percent of the population. Ethiopia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion but Christians living in Muslim majority areas of Ethiopia are occasionally attacked by Muslims. “We are alarmed by the spike in attacks against Christians in Muslim majority areas of Ethiopia. We urge Ethiopian authorities to investigate this latest attack and prevent similar attacks from occurring in the future,” said ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho. Concerned believers are being asked to please contact the Ethiopian officials in your country and politely ask them to bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee the right of Christians to worship freely in Oma village.
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