Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Christian watchdog group that monitors persecution says North Korea and countries plagued by Islamic extremism are the most dangerous places in the world to be a Christian.
Open Doors President David Curry says more than 7,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2015, an increase of almost 3,000 from the year before.
Rabbi David Saperstein, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, says many of those executions and other atrocities were committed by Boko Haram (BOH'-koh hah-RAHM') and the Islamic State group.
North Korea remains first among offenders on the 2016 Open Doors World Watch List, followed by Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Syria.
Sound: Upcoming
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
