YIDA, South Sudan — Muslim extremists from Sudan have been arrested in connection with the burning of a church building in South Sudan, sources said.
Members of the Sudanese Church of Christ in the refugee settlement of Yida awoke the morning of Jan. 16 to find their worship building in flames, area Christian leaders said. Tens of thousands of refugees from Sudan’s South Kordofan state have set up homes in Yida, about seven miles from the Sudanese border.
“I learned that those who set our church on fire were sent from Sudan purposely,” said a church leader who wished to remain unnamed.
Authorities arrested a Muslim suspect, identified only as Tia, who revealed the names of three other Muslim suspects, and police also captured them, including one identified only as Mohammad, sources said. One of the arrested men said they were sent from Sudan to attack churches and aid workers helping Nuba Christians from Sudan, a local Christian leader said.
Over the past year, three church buildings were reportedly burned in Yida, home for refugees that number nearly 70,000, according to one estimate. Most of them are Nuba Christians from South Kordofan state who believe the Islamist government of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is targeting Christians and bombing churches as part of its war against rebels.
(MS)
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