American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris (pictured) condemned an attack on Christians in Nigeria. Photo: AJC.

Two terrorist attacks rocked the beleaguered Nigerian Christian community on Christmas Eve, resulting in 12 Christian deaths, Morning Star News reported.

On Christmas Eve, suspected Islamic extremists killed six Christians at the First Baptist Church in the northern Nigerian state of Borno. While in Nigeria’s Yobe state on Christmas Eve, gunmen reportedly entered the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and killed six Christians including a pastor before setting the church building ablaze.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned the latest assault against Christians in Nigeria.

“The bestiality of this latest assault, regrettably, is not new, but clearly the need to protect Christians in Nigeria demands urgent action,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David Harris in a press release.

Terrorist attacks against Christian targets have intensified since a 2011 Christmas attack on a church that left 39 worshipers dead. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, the Salafist Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has been behind a number of these attacks.

Religious conflict between the mainly Christian south and Muslim north has raged in Nigeria for decades. Boko Haram calls for the formation of a “pure Islamic state” governed by sharia law and have attacked Christian targets, government offices and moderate Muslims repeatedly since its formation in 2001, according to the U.S. Institute of Peace.