Various reports estimate that between 52-99 Christians were killed Sunday in Nigeria.

The Islamic radicals, who officials claim are militants with the Boka Haram, set off explosives in the small village of Kawuri, which killed 85 people and burned down 300 homes.

“We are still searching and burying corpses since yesterday,” said Dala Lawan, a Kawuri official. “The first burial was 53 but more corpses are still being picked in the bushes and some with serious injuries also died. We have just found two more corpses, which brings the death toll to 85 for now.”

A church service in Wada Chadkawa, another village, was attacked as well. Gunshots and explosives added casualties:

Ari Kolomi, who fled from his village, which is 70 kilometers (45 miles) outside Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, said, “No house was left standing” by the more than 50 extremists who attacked, armed with explosives and guns. Kolomi was searching for relatives in the village to make sure they had survived the attack.

The name Boka Haram means “Western education is forbidden” – they strongly oppose Christianity and want to impose Sharia law in Nigeria. The same group has killed over 200 people during the past month.

In fact, the Boka Haram has been terrorizing Nigerians for more than a decade:

In 2012 Boka Haram demanded all Christians living in northern and central Nigeria to flee south so that a purely Islamic society can be established. Since then, Boko Haram has used church bombings, drive-by shootings and raids on Christian villages as a part of its strategy to “purify” northern and central Nigeria.

The persecution of Christians in Muslim nations is nothing new, however. National Review reported that Syria, Lybia, Afghanistan, and Iraq are among the nations most hostile toward Christianity. But these nations have something terrifying in common: American involvement.

The answer clearly is not more United States intervention. As NR noted, when we try to force democracy on a nation, these extreme terrorists time and time again take power.

Thankfully, major American news networks have gotten behind this story, bringing awareness to the terrorization of Christians in other nations.  

Let’s pray that the Boka Haram will be stopped before more Christians lose their homes and lives.