Reports of Christians dying for their faith almost doubled between 2012 and 2013, with more Christians martyred in Syria last year than the worldwide total for 2012.
Open Doors, a non-denominational group that supports persecuted Christians, said Wednesday that 2,123 Christians were killed because of their faith in 2013, up from 1,201 last year, and that 1,213 martyrs were recorded in Syria alone, Reuters reports.
The organization named North Korea as the most dangerous country for Christians for the 12th year in a row, followed by Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S.-based group also said that radical Islamists were the main source of persecution in many of the countries on the list, and that hostility towards Christians was increasing in Africa.
[Reuters]