ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AFP) – A church under construction in the largely Muslim archipelago of Zanzibar was set ablaze early Tuesday, 48 hours after the murder of a Roman Catholic priest, but there were no casualties, police said.
“The evangelical church of Siloam was set on fire by unknown men. There were no casualties and the fire was extinguished,” Mohamed Mhina, spokesman for the police on the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island chain said.
Only part of the church, on the main island of Unguja, was burned, along with several dozen chairs.
Attackers demolished the church last year, in what was variously described as a dispute over land ownership and a religiously motivated attack. It was in the process of being rebuilt.
It was not clear whether Tuesday’s attack was linked to land issues or whether it was the work of religious extremists.
“The police has undertaken to find the perpetrators … but for the moment no one has been arrested,” the police said in a statement.
Catholic priest Evarist Mushi was shot dead outside his church on Sunday, the second such attack on the Muslim-majority island in recent months.
Zanzibar’s Christian community is a tiny minority, an estimated three percent of the 1.2 million population, which is otherwise almost entirely Muslim.
There have been tensions between the two communities in the past few months.
Tourism is the main foreign currency earner for Zanzibar, famed for its white-sand beaches and historical buildings in Stone Town, the old part of the capital, which is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.