Anti-Black Genocidal Sudan Destroys Church Building in Khartoum North

 JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Authorities in Sudan on July 8 demolished a church complex in Khartoum North, sources said.

With no prior warning, bulldozers and trucked accompanied by police and armed forces personnel arrived at the compound of the Pentecostal Church in the El-Haj Yousif area of East Nile District at noon and began demolishing the church building, sources told local media.

Officials initially gave no reason for demolishing the building, which included a worship hall and administrative offices, sources said.

“It was shocking,” one eyewitness reportedly said.

The church, which belongs to the Sudan Pentecostal Church denomination (SPC), constructed the building in the early 1990s, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Christians have called on the Sudan Council of Churches, an ecumenical body, to take notice of the religious freedom violation.

Officials reportedly did not ask for ownership papers of the church building before demolishing it.

Authorities later told church officials the building was destroyed as part of a drive to remove “unregulated” buildings throughout Khartoum state, according to Christian support group Open Doors.

“Last month, Rafat Samir, a church leader and the chairman 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,” Open Doors reported. “‘They will target all churches in the outlying areas of the main cities and demolish them with a direct attack,’ he said after last week’s incident. ‘As for the large churches within the city centers, they will target them by using other apparently lawful reasons to destroy the church buildings.’”

Church leaders condemned the destruction, describing it as part of an increase in persecution against Christians in Sudan.

“We urge all Christians to pray so that this strengthens us in this persecution, and pray for the church in Sudan,” area pastor Juma Sapana stated on his Facebook page.

The demolition comes after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in May declared it had liberated Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with which it has been locked in battle since April 15, 2023, though fighting continues in neighboring Omdurman. Both the SAF and the RSF have attacked places of worship since then.

Sudan was ranked No. 5 among the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian in Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL), down from No. 8 the prior year.

Conditions in Sudan worsened as civil war that broke out in April 2023 intensified. Sudan registered increases in the number of Christians killed and sexually assaulted and Christian homes and businesses attacked, according to the WWL report.

“Christians of all backgrounds are trapped in the chaos, unable to flee. Churches are shelled, looted and occupied by the warring parties,” the report stated.

Both the RSF and the SAF are Islamist forces that have attacked displaced Christians on accusations of supporting the other’s combatants.

Sudan Destroys Church Building in Khartoum North - Morningstar News