WORK ON RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD

RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD

Country	Main religious groups involved	Type of conflict
Afghanistan	Extreme, radical Fundamentalist Muslim terrorist groups & non-Muslims	Osama bin Laden headed a terrorist group called Al Quada (The Source) headquartered in Afghanistan. They were protected by, and integrated with, the Taliban dictatorship in the country. The Northern Alliance of rebel Afghans, Britain and the U.S. attacked the Taliban and Al Quada, establishing a new regime in part of the country. The fighting continues.
Bosnia	Serbian Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholic), Muslims	Fragile peace is holding, due to the presence of peacekeepers.
Côte d'Ivoire	Muslims, Indigenous, Christian	Following the elections in late 2000, government security forces "began targeting civilians solely and explicitly on the basis of their religion, ethnic group, or national origin. The overwhelming majority of victims come from the largely Muslim north of the country, or are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants..."  A military uprising continued the slaughter in 2002. It split the nation into two segments. Periods of peace and violence have alternated as the country struggles towards stability.
Cyprus	Christians & Muslims	The island is partitioned, creating enclaves for ethnic Greeks (Christians) and Turks (Muslims). A UN peace keeping force is maintaining stability.
East Timor	Christians & Muslims	A Roman Catholic country. About 30% of the  population died by murder, starvation or disease after they were forcibly annexed by Indonesia (mainly Muslim). After voting for independence, many Christians were exterminated or exiled by the Indonesian army and army-funded militias in a carefully planned program of genocide and religious cleansing. East Timore won its independence from Indonesia in 2002. The situation is now stable.
India	Animists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs	Various conflicts that heat up periodically producing loss of life. Christians are regularly attacked in Orissa province by militant Hindu extremists.
Indonesia, Maluku Islands	Christians & Muslims	After centuries of relative peace, conflicts between Christians and Muslims started during 1999. About 6,000 were killed; over a half million people were internally displaced; thousands were forced to convert to another religion. Peace talks were initiated by the government in early 2002., the situation appears to be more stable with sporadic outbreaks of violence.
Iraq	Kurds, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yazidi	This is a country with three main ethnic and religious groups: Shiites, Sunnis & Kurds. For decades, one group has controlled the government, and the other two groups have suffered. In 2014, a new group invaded the country: ISISBy mid-2006, a small scale civil war, primarily between Shiite and Sunni Muslims started. The situation appears to be steadily improving since the coalition forces have withdrawn from the cities.
Kashmir	Hindus & Muslims	A chronically unstable region of the world, claimed by both Pakistan and India. The availability of nuclear weapons stockpiles are destabilizing the region further. More details Thirty to sixty thousand people have died since 1989. A plebescite would be the obvious solution, except that either Pakistan or India -- whichever country polls show wold lose the plebiscite -- refuse to allow one.
Kosovo	Serbian Orthodox Christians & Muslims	Peace enforced by NATO peacekeepers. There is convincing evidence of past mass murder by Yugoslavian government (mainly Serbian Orthodox Christians) against ethnic Albanians (mostly Muslim) Full story
Kurdistan	Christians, Muslims	Periodic assaults on Christians (Protestant, Chaldean Catholic, & Assyrian Orthodox).
Macedonia	Macedonian Orthodox Christians & Muslims	Muslims (often referred to as ethnic Albanians) engaged in a civil war with the rest of the country who are primarily Macedonian Orthodox Christians during the 1990s. A peace treaty has been signed. Disarmament by NATO is complete.
Middle East	Jews, Muslims, & Christians	The peace process between Israel and Palestine suffered a complete breakdown. This has resulted in the deaths of thousands, in the ratio of three dead for each Jew who died.  Major strife broke out in 2000-SEP. Flareups repeat. No resolution appears possible.
Nigeria	Christians, Animists, & Muslims	Yourubas and Christians in the south of the country are battling Muslims in the north. Country is struggling towards democracy after decades of Muslim military dictatorships. More details
Northern Ireland	Protestants, Catholics	After 3,600 killings and assassinations over 30 years. A ceasefire is holding.
Pakistan	Suni & Shi'ite Muslims	Low level mutual attacks, overshadowed by Taliban insurrectionists.
Philippines	Christians & Muslims	A low level conflict between the mainly Christian central government and Muslims in the south of the country has continued for centuries. More details
Russia, Chechnya	Russian Orthodox Christians, Muslims	The Russian army attacked the breakaway region. Many atrocities have been alleged on both sides. According to the Voice of the Martyrs: "In January 2002 Chechen rebels included all Christians on their list of official enemies, vowing to 'blow up every church and mission-related facility in Russia'."
Somalia	Wahhabi and Sufi Muslims	Sufi Muslims -- a tolerant moderate tradition of Islam are fighting the Shabab who follow the Wahhabi tradition of Islam in a continuing conflict.
South Africa	Animists & "Witches"	Hundreds of persons, suspected and accused of witches practicing black magic, are murdered each year.
Sri Lanka	Buddhists & Hindus	Tamils (a mainly Hindu 18% minority) are involved in a war aimed at dividing the island and creating a homeland for themselves. Conflict had been underway since 1983 with the Sinhalese Buddhist majority (70%). Over a hundred thousand people have been killed. The conflict took a sudden change for the better in 2002-SEP, when the Tamils dropped their demand for complete independence. The South Asian Tsunami in 2004-DEC induced some cooperation. By 2009 the Tamil uprising was crushed by the government.
Sudan	Animists, Christians & Muslims	Complex ethnic, racial, religious conflict in which the Muslim regime committed genocide against both Animists and Christians in the south of the country. Slavery and near slavery were practiced. A ceasefire was signed in 2006-MAY between some of the combatants. 3 Warfare continues in the Darfur region, primarily between a Muslim militia and Muslim inhabitants.
Thailand	Buddhists & Muslims	Muslim rebels have been involved in a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand -- a country that is 95% Buddhist.
Tibet	Buddhists & Communists	Country was annexed by Chinese Communists in late 1950's. Brutal suppression of Buddhism continues. *
Uganda	Animists, Christians, & Muslims	Christian rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army are conducting a civil war in the north of Uganda. Their goal is a Christian theocracy whose laws are based on the Ten Commandments. They abduct, enslave and/or raped about 2,000 children a year.

*http://www.religioustolerance.org/curr_war.htm

WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT FROM THE ONES ABOVE AND FOLLOW THESE STEPS.

1-      EXPLAIN THE RELIGIONS THAT ARE IN CONFLICT

2-      EXPLAIN THE CONFLICT STATING: PLACE, TIME, LENGTH,NUMBER OF CASUALTIES, ENDING? CURRENT SITUATION.

3-      DO YOU THINK THERE ARE OTHER INTERESTS IN THESE CONFLICTS APART FROM RELIGIOUS ONES?

4-      WHAT CAN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY DO TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS?

5-      WHAT CAN A PERSON DO, INDIVIDUALLY, TO HELP SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS?

*Illustrate your essay with photographs, pieces of news, videos, graphics, statistics etc.