Islamic terrorists behead at least 10 Christian hostages on Christmas Day

At least 10 Christian hostages in Nigeria were murdered by Islamic State terrorists on Christmas Day.

The slaughter was reportedly carried out by the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), who claimed the killings were to avenge the deaths of their leaders Abu bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir in Iraq and Syria.

Video released on Wednesday shows 13 hostages in total, 10 are believed to be Christian and three, Muslim.

It was reported that one of the hostages was shot in the head while the rest were beheaded.

In an earlier video, the hostages pleaded with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to negotiate their release.

“We killed them as a revenge for the killings of our leaders, including Abu bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir in Iraq and Syria,” ISWAP said in a statement.

The Christmas Day killings come after the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) revealed that more than 1,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered by Islamic militants since January and over 6,000 in the last four years.

Open Doors reported Nigeria as one of the most violent countries for Christians in the world, accounting for 90% of Christian deaths in the 2019 World Watch List reporting period.