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Bible translators attacked in Middle East, Christian convert killed in Bangladesh

CB Condez March 23, 2016 07:15 AM EST

An 1859 U.S. family Bible, December 2006. | REUTERS / David Ball

Four Bible translators were attacked and killed by unidentified assailants in the Middle East.

Mae Greenleaf, a prayer coordinator at Wycliffe Associates, an organization focused on translating the Bible, said in a statement: "Militants killed four national translators and injured several others in a raid on a translation office in the Middle East. They shot and destroyed all the equipment in the office including the Print On Demand (POD) equipment. The invaders burned all the books and other translation materials in the office."

Two of the workers died due to gunshot wounds, while two others were killed trying to save the life of the lead translater. They reportedly laid on top of him but were bludgeoned to death by the attackers using their weapons. There were others who were hurt because of the attack.

The other members of the translation team is looking for a safer and more secure location to continue their work as they intend to "re-double their efforts to translate, publish, and print God's Word for these eight language communities."

Wycliffe Associates will help in replacing the equipment and it is raising $50,000 through their Emergency 911 Fund to not only get the project going again but also to help the families of the translators who died.

Meanwhile, in Kurigram in Bangladesh, a 68-year-old man was attacked by at least two assailants while he was taking a walk. According to Agence France-Presse, Hossain Ali was stabbed in the neck.

"He died on the spot," police chief Tobarak Ullah of the Kurigram district said, as quoted by The Rappler. "The attackers exploded a molotov cocktail to create panic and left the scene on a motorcycle."

While it is still undertermined if Islamist militants are responsible for the killing or if there is another party involved, Ullah mentioned that Ali converted from Islam to Christianity in 1999. In the past, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deaths of Christian converts as well as minorities.

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