CHRISTIAN women and girls in Burkina Faso need to wear burqas to avoid attacks from Islamic extremists, according to a priest in the country.

Following an explosion of jihadist terror in 2015, extremist groups are still terrorising the Christian population, pressuring them to convert to Islam, Father Wenceslao Belem told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

According to the priest, Catholic nurses pretend to be Muslims when travelling to patients and Christian girls wear full face veils to school to protect them from being assaulted or abducted.