Rebels targeting church leaders for abduction, death

Rebel militants, in the span of eight days, killed a pastor and an undetermined number of Christians and abducted another pastor and church leader.

Sources told Morning Star News that the rebel militants are a breakaway faction of the Islamic extremist group Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N). The rebels are suspected in the series of recent attacks in Sudan’s South Kordofan state.

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The militants raided the Dabbi area of the Nuba Mountains on July 24, kidnapping and slaying Adel Idris Jongool, pastor of Episcopal Church of Sudan, a source reported.

The day prior, an attack in Heiban town saw an unknown number of Christians killed and some church leaders kidnapped.

Then, on July 31, the rebels abducted Zakaria Suliman Jana, a Sudanese Church of Christ leader in Heiban. Yaqob Ibrahim Tia, pastor of that church, was abducted July 23, along with his 17- and 20-year-old sons, Tia’s brother, and a nephew, states Morning Star.

“Jana’s abduction appeared to be part of a surge of attacks on church leaders in the troubled region of Nuba Mountains,” which Morning Star describes as a SPLA-N stronghold.

World Watch

Sudan is No. 4 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.