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Sudan: Religious Freedom Largely Vanished Since Onset of Civil War, Another Church Bombed

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Since their power struggle launched Sudan’s current civil war in April 2023, the Sudanese National Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have destroyed the tentative steps that were taken toward securing religious freedom after the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Open Doors reports.

Hundreds of churches have closed or been destroyed, and congregations have reported violent attacks on believers including rape and kidnap, Open Doors says.

According to Morning Star News, on December 20, yet another church building was targeted during an air strike bombing by the Sudanese Air Force (SAF). This time it was the Baptist Church in Khartoum North’s Al-Azb area, and one congregant was injured. Several civilians were killed in the bombing as their homes were destroyed in the strike as well.

In a statement to MSN, the church’s Pastor Philemon Hassan Kharata said: “The Lord is good, and we pray that He protects the souls that are more important than the property and that He comforts the neighbors of the church who died during the strike. We also pray for healing for our brother Bakhit Hassan.”

Sudan now ranks 8 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. “There are long-term concerns that the conflict will give Islamic extremists a renewed foothold in the country, undoing the reforms made by the transitional civilian government which gave more freedom to Christians, including abolishing the apostasy law and removing Islam as the state religion,” Open Doors said in a recent report.