Sudan: Targeted attacks on Christian clergy and civilians reported

Christian aid organization Open Doors has reported targeted attacks and kidnappings of Christian clergy and civilians in Sudan. These incidents occur amidst a civil war that has displaced approximately 12 million people, according to the UNHCR.

In South Kordofan province, an attack on a theological seminary in Dabbi on July 24 resulted in the death of Pastor Adel Idris Jongool and six civilians, alongside the kidnapping of numerous seminarians. Earlier, on June 19, Pastor Youhanna Al-Amin of the St. Vincent congregation in Kauda was killed following the looting of a church medical warehouse by soldiers.

The violence is particularly concentrated in the Nuba Mountains and South Kordofan regions. Open Doors notes that churches, which previously served as places of refuge, are increasingly becoming battlegrounds, with religious leaders facing heightened risks of abduction and murder.