By BBC news
Churches and French interests have been targeted in Niger – a former French colony
At least 10 people have been killed and 45 churches set on fire since protests erupted in Niger over the French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, police say.
The government has declared three days of mourning for those who died.
Hotels and bars were also burned to the ground during a weekend of violent protests, the authorities said.
Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo’s offices in an attack earlier this month.
The cover of the magazine’s latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying “I am Charlie”.
It led to criticism from many living in Muslim-majority countries who said the magazine’s editors were being unnecessarily provocative.
Related article: Niger: Christians, churches targeted in protests
1 Comment. Leave new
We see what is on the surface, that is, we see the cartoons.
We cannot seem to see what lies beneath the surface.
We attribute the journalist’s motive in drawing
the cartoons as somehow wanting to tease or
provoke Islam, as if juvenile or prankster like.
Rarely, if ever, do we appear capable of engaging
the larger picture. Why is that?