Pentecostal Church demolished by Sudanese forces

Sudanese armed forces have been accused of allying with Islamic extremists and destroying a Pentecostal church in El Haj Yousif, El Shegla in Khartoum.

The incident took place on 8 July and commenced when around 30 men arrived on the church equipped with two bulldozers and quite a lot of pickup trucks and Land Cruisers.

According to anti-persecution organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the church, which was inbuilt the Nineties, was completely demolished, all the way down to its offices, guest house and other attached buildings.

Sudan is currently in a state of civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict began in 2023 following an influence struggle between two rival factions throughout the military government.

In May of this yr the SAF claimed it had “completely liberated” Khartoum from the RSF. Those answerable for demolishing the church were from the SAF.

This is just not the primary time a church has been targeted within the conflict. In December 2024 an SAF airstrike hit a Khartoum church and killed 11 people, at the least eight of whom were children. Last month the RSF bombed three churches within the North Darfur State over the course of two days.

Scot Bower, CEO of CSW, said, “CSW condemns the demolition of the Pentecostal Church buildings in Khartoum, which appears to have taken place with the support of the authorities in an area controlled by the SAF.

“Intentional attacks on places dedicated to religion are grave crimes under the Rome Statute.

“We call on all parties to the continued conflict within the country to respect international humanitarian and human rights law and refrain from attacks on places of worship, which frequently double as places of refuge for displaced civilians.

“We proceed to call for a full, immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and urge the international community to extend efforts to pressure each parties to conform to this.”