A recent report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) has highlighted a dramatic rise in deaths caused by militant Islamist groups in Africa, most of them Christian.

Over 22,000 fatalities were recorded in the year ending June 2025, most victims being Christians in West, East, and Central Africa.

The study revealed a 60 percent cent increase in violence since 2023, with nearly half of the deaths occurring in the Sahel region, spanning countries such as Mali, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso.

“The pace and scale of violence in the Sahel is likely even higher than reported", the report warns, citing media restrictions under military juntas.

The Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) network is responsible for more than 80 per cent of deaths in the Sahel, now controlling over half of Burkina Faso.

In Somalia, Al Shabaab’s attacks have caused over 6,000 deaths in the last year, while the Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) is growing in influence, serving as a global ISIS hub.

The violence also reportedly reached eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Allied Democratic Forces, affiliated with ISIS, claimed responsibility for a brutal church attack that killed 43 worshippers during night mass.

The study underscores the growing threat militant groups pose to Christian communities across Africa, with an estimated 950,000 square kilometres of populated land now beyond government control.