Since 2003, Christians in the small East African country of Eritrea have been under siege, with thousands languishing in prisons for their faith. This despite the country being nearly evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

London: Vigil marks 15th year of repression against Christians in Eritrea | Independent Catholic News https://t.co/JmycOEJive via @icn_uk — ICN (@ICN_UK) May 19, 2017

A new crackdown on Christians has seen mass arrests in recent weeks, as the Eritrean Christian Patriarch Antonios marks ten years in detention.

160 Christians Arrested During Eritrea's Fresh Crackdown on Christianity: 12 children are actually in prison with… https://t.co/4cmkmjD3Gk — The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) June 28, 2017

International Christian Concern reports:

Eritrea has now arrested 200 Christians in house-to-house raids, in a tough new crackdown which is tearing children from their parents. Young children and a baby are among those arrested. It’s feared they could spend their childhood in a prison cell. Release International is calling on Eritrea to free the Christians and has launched a campaign calling for concerted prayer for Eritrea’s prisoners of faith. Security forces in Eritrea have been going house-to-house arresting Christians. They have rounded up 177 adults, along with some 20 small children. The arrests are continuing and many Christians have gone into hiding. Release International partner Dr Berhane Asmelash says rounding up Christians door-to-door is a new tactic that signals a worsening of the crackdown. He believes the single-party state is taking a tough new line against the church. “People used to be arrested for conducting unauthorised meetings, such as Bible studies or prayers. But this is new for us when they go from house to house. They are arresting people for their beliefs, not for their actions. This is getting worse. Many Christians are in hiding.” “Security forces in different towns went from house to house asking people their religion. If they were outside the [state sanctioned] Lutheran, Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox faiths, they arrested them.” “Twelve children were arrested with their parents, and some parents were forced to leave their underage children unattended.” Children who are too young to be separated from their mothers face being brought up in jail unless their parents are released. They include a two-month old baby.

It’s believed that as many as 3,000 Christians are imprisoned in Eritrea under extreme conditions.

Persecuted Christians in Eritrea: 'The guards offered to let us go if we renounced Jesus. We said no' https://t.co/HiDYok6gYl — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) July 5, 2017

Earlier this year two Christian women died as a result of a hunger strike to protest their treatment, with autopsies revealing they had been raped.

Christian Women Give Their Lives to Highlight Persecution in Eritrea https://t.co/ORrWDMSkZS — CBN News (@CBNNews) April 1, 2017

One report on the hunger strikes states:

Two Pentecostal women have died following a hunger strike after being transferred to a hospital from the detention centre where they were being held.

Since the suicide bombing of the church in the cathedral compound in Cairo last December, nearly 100 have been killed in three suicide bombing attacks on churches and the bus massacre of Coptic pilgrims at the beginning of Ramadan in May — all attacks claimed by the Islamic State:

On Eve of Ramadan, Islamic Gunmen Kill 28 Coptic Christians on Pilgrimage in Egypt https://t.co/AenrRu6kqE via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/2wyfSR5fdk — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) May 26, 2017

25 Coptic Worshippers Killed by Terror Attack in Cairo Cathedral https://t.co/R6gtvvnOd7 #trending pic.twitter.com/hzBoE1N8zJ — PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) December 11, 2016

Cairo Cathedral Bombing Killing 25 During Church Service Fits a Familiar Pattern https://t.co/Xc9ODRGSoj — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) December 11, 2016

Two Blasts Strike Coptic Churches On Palm Sunday in Egypt, 29 Reported Dead https://t.co/oCNcDzrqMB via @pjmedia_com — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) April 9, 2017

As I’ve reported here at PJ Media, Egyptian authorities have stopped at least two other attacks, one targeting a monastery in Assiut in April, and another last month at a church in Alexandria:

Egyptian Authorities Bust Terror Cell Targeting Alexandria Church For Suicide Bombing on Eid al-Fitr https://t.co/gmRcXBjP7p @pjmedia_com — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 25, 2017

Egyptian Authorities Stop Planned Islamic State Terror Attack on Coptic Monastery in Upper Egypt https://t.co/4OkqS82F14 via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/tfLGO1X3CN — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) April 12, 2017

Attacks on the Coptic Christians are incited by the Muslim Brotherhood:

'Moderate' Muslim Brotherhood Incites More Terror Attacks Targeting Egypt's Coptic Christians https://t.co/p8gxCnxsd3 via @pjmedia_com — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) May 29, 2017

And the media:

Despite a recent news report, the #Coptic Church of #Egypt has no plan to arm or train its parishioners to fight https://t.co/FQnETQJFuv — Al-Monitor (@AlMonitor) July 8, 2017

Egypt has the largest Christian community in the Middle East — more than all the other countries combined. Those other Christian communities in the Middle East and Africa also remain under siege:

This religious minority is fleeing their historical homelands in record numbers https://t.co/SHJhJujjcO — Asia Times (@asiatimesonline) July 6, 2017

Erdogan Seizes 50 Syriac Churches and Monasteries, Declares Them Turkish State Property https://t.co/SPOrU4JE9U via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/cohQwb37JV — Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 27, 2017

Syriac Christian town of Ma'loula, Syria; Aramaic is spoken. Syrian Christians numbered 2.5 mil. 1 mil have been killed or fled #Genocide pic.twitter.com/KxGSGF9uOZ — Iraqi Christian Foundation (@iraqschristians) July 3, 2017

The courage of a Christian town on the frontlines against ISIS | Opinion https://t.co/HtnrG5enoI pic.twitter.com/KL1h9hTsTw — Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 28, 2017

Shabaab jihadists "went house to house searching for non-Muslim men…before beheading" nine of them.https://t.co/Cx1qkE4vRu — Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) July 8, 2017

An estimate of Christians killed for their faith in 2016 that will be released shortly will report that nearly 100,000 were killed.

With attacks increasing this year, the suffering among the world’s most widely persecuted faith continues.