A group of up to thirty extremists accompanied by police officers and members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) demolished a Pentecostal church premises in the El Haj Yousif area of Khartoum’s East Nile District on 8 July. They destroyed the worship hall (which had been constructed in 1990) along with its administrative offices, guest house and other attached buildings.
Witnesses reported seeing the church premises surrounded by police and SAF vehicles including two bulldozers, four trucks and three large vehicles packed with soldiers.
Police and the SAF claimed to have no part in the demolition but their presence allowed the perpetrators to carry it out with impunity and police prevented onlookers from taking photos or video.
Officials did not ask for property ownership papers and initially gave no reason for the demolition but Open Doors reported that authorities later told church officials it was part of a drive to remove “unregulated” buildings throughout Khartoum state. The photo (right) shows the extent of damage to the complex of buildings, which were reduced to rubble.
Open Doors also reported that in June church leader Rafat Samir, chair of the Evangelical Community Council for Sudan, warned that the future of the church in Sudan remains precarious under the SAF’s de facto government. Following the 8 July demolition he said, “They will target all churches in the outlying areas of the main cities and demolish them with a direct attack. As for the large churches within the city centres, they will target them by using other apparently lawful reasons to destroy the church buildings.”
Commenting that it would be impossible to restore over one hundred church buildings damaged or destroyed during the civil war, he said: “They will not allow the reconstruction of churches that were bombed and burned during the war. There is a decision actually issued by the Urban Planning Department not to maintain or rebuild any building affected by the war without a permit, and a very large percentage of our churches are not permitted because the state does not give a permit to any church, no matter how many conditions it meets.”
Attacks since outbreak of civil war
The SAF and its rivals the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have both carried out attacks on places of worship since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023.
When conflict began the RSF seized much of Khartoum, but in May 2025 the SAF declared that it had “completely liberated” the capital from the RSF. Fighting continues in other areas, however, including neighbouring Omdurman (Sudan’s second city) and also in Darfur.
Middle East Concern reports that mobs of extremists in the northern state of Shamaliya have started harassing Christians as they meet for worship, and many Christians report discrimination when claiming government aid packages.
Between 9 and 11 June 2025 the RSF bombed the Sudanese Episcopal Church, the African Inland Church and the Roman Catholic Church in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur State, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more.
In December 2024 an SAF airstrike on Al Ezba Baptist Church in Khartoum damaged the church nursery and residential buildings as well as the worship premises and caused the deaths of eleven people including eight children.
Read Church in Chains’ Sudan Country Profile.
(Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern, Morning Star News, Open Doors)
Photos: Christian Solidarity Worldwide