On January 1, 1996, eight assailants and a police officer were killed in a fight between members of the group and police in Kambo Ashara when the former tried to force villagers to convert.[15][16][17] An attack on the same mosque in Jarafa in 1996 left 12 people dead.[18] On November 1, 1997, two members of Takfir wal-Hijra attacked people leaving a mosque in Arkawit with knives, killing two and wounding a further ten.[19][20][21]