List of terrorist incidents targeting Christians

Christianity is the most persecuted religious faith in the world. This is a list of terrorist incidents in contemporary history that specifically targeted Christians for their faith.

Criteria

This list only contains incidents which meet the following criteria:

1. Meet the international definition of terrorism.

2. Specifically targeted Christians because of their faith.

3. Have occurred in contemporary history, which would be after World War II ended.

Under this criteria, incidents such as the September 11th terrorist attacks do not qualify as a terrorist incident targeting Christians because even though the attacks were perpetrated by non-Christian religious extremists, they were motivated by their disapproval of US foreign policy. And incidents such as the Charleston Church shooting is much of the same story, with the motive not being because the subjects are Christian, but due to the ethnicity of the victims.

Other characteristics of the data

Most terrorist incidents against Christians occur in Muslim-majority countries with little religious freedom but some terrorist incidents are perpetrated by those of other religious faiths, and some who lack a religious faith entirely. A vast majority of incidents listed are not only linked to anti-Christian sentiment, but also Islamic Extremism.

List

This page is a work in progress.

List

Date	Nation	Assailants	Method	Killed	Injured
23 March 1980	El Salvador	1	Shooting	1	0
30 March 1980	El Salvador	Multiple	Shooting	~31	?
2 December 1980	El Salvador	5	Shooting	4	0
28 July 1981	Guatemala	Multiple	Shooting	1	0
1 September 1982	Brazil	1	Stabbing	1	0
15 March 1991	Italy	1	Stabbing	1	0
1994 - 1996	Algeria	Multiple	Various	19	0
23 January 1999	India	Multiple	Arson	3	0
2 January 2000	Egypt	~89	Shooting	21	40
6 June 2000	Italy	3	Stabbing	1	0
27 May 2001 - 7 June 2002	Philippines	Multiple	Various	40+	?
31 May 2001	United Kingdom	1	Stabbing	1	0
3 June 2001	Bangladesh	?	Bombing	10	26
28 August 2001	Philippines	Multiple	Shooting	1	0
13 November 2002	United States	1	Beating	1	0
12 February 2005	Brazil	2	Shooting	1	0
5 February 2006	Turkey	1	Shooting	1	0
17 September 2006	Somalia	2	Shooting	2	0
3 June 2007	Iraq	Multiple	Shooting	4	0
26 September 2007	Sri Lanka	Multiple	Shooting	1	0
29 February 2008	Iraq	Multiple	Shooting	3	0
25-28 August 2008	India	Multiple	Arson, Beating	39-500	18,000+
15 November 2009	Nigeria	?	Shooting	1	0
6 January 2010	Egypt	3	Shooting	11	11
3 June 2010	Turkey	1	Stabbing	1	0
4 July 2010	India	8	Stabbing	0	3
31 October 2010	Iraq	6	Bombing	58	78
1 January 2011	Egypt	1	Bombing	23	97
2 March 2011	Pakistan	?	Shooting	1	0
7 May 2011	Egypt	Multiple	Shooting, Arson	15	232
9-10 October 2011	Egypt	Multiple	Beating	24	212
5-6 January 2012	Nigeria	Multiple	Shooting	27+	?
20 January 2012	Nigeria	Multiple	Shooting	185	57+
7 April 2014	Netherlands	1	Shooting	1	0
12 February 2015	Libya	Multiple	Beheadings	21	0
15 March 2015	Pakistan	2	Bombing	20	70
22 March 2016	Bangladesh	Multiple	Stabbing	1	0
26 July 2016	France	2	Stabbing	1	1
11 December 2016	Egypt	1	Bombing	29	47
9 April 2017	Egypt	3	Bombing	43	136
26 May 2017	Egypt	8-10	Shooting	33	22
5 November 2017	United States	1	Shooting	26	22
29 December 2017	Egypt	1	Shooting	11	10
2 November 2018	Egypt	19	Shooting	7	12
21 April 2019	Sri Lanka	9	Bombing	130	500+
29 October 2020	France	1	Stabbing	3	0
18 April 2019	Egypt	Multiple	Execution	1	0
5 June 2022	Nigeria	5	Bombing, Shooting	41	61
23-25 December 2023	Nigeria	Multiple	Shooting	~200	~500
28 January 2024	Turkey	2	Shooting	1	1
15 April 2024	Australia	1	Stabbing	0	3