Ivory Coast's Catholic Church said Tuesday it had suffered 30 different attacks against places of worship and other buildings over the past two months.
“Since August 15, the Catholic Church has been targeted by 30 attacks, daytime and nighttime attacks,” church spokesman Augustin Obrou told AFP.
“As recently as yesterday, the homes of two nuns were burgled in Abengourou,” in the east of the country, the spokesman said.
He blamed the incidents on bandits and said that on several occasions money was stolen, while some priests were also “molested and stripped of their clothes.”
President Alassane Ouattara on Monday met with the Archbishop of Abidjan Jean-Pierre Kutwa in an attempt to reassure the church that efforts to stamp out rising crime would be stepped up.
Since the end in April of the months-long post-election crisis that pitted Ouattara against incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, one of the new leader's main challenges has been to restore order.
Estimates vary but the west African country's population is generally considered to consist of 40 percent Muslims, 40 percent Christians and 20 percent animists. - Sapa-aFP