RSF attacks church during Christmas prayer service

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a church belonging to the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) in Al Hasaheisa, Gezira State, during a Christmas prayer service on 30 December.

CSW sources report that RSF soldiers looted the church, then forced the 177 Christians who had gathered there to leave. At least 14 people, including women and children, were assaulted and injured during the attack, and the soldiers threatened to kill all Christians in the area.

Christians have not returned to the church since and are unsure of when they will be able to do so safely.

Christians in areas under RSF control have been subjected to widespread human rights violations since conflict broke out between the RSF and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023. The RSF has repeatedly attacked churches, and continues to pressure Christians to convert to Islam on a widespread and systematic basis.

The SAF has also attacked places of worship during the conflict. On 20 December at least 11 people, including eight children, were killed in an SAF airstrike on the Al Ezba Baptist Church, its nursery and residential buildings in Al Ezba, Khartoum North. On 4 December at least seven people were killed in an SAF airstrike on the Sheikh Elsidiq Mosque in Shambat, Khartoum North.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW condemns the attack on the Sudanese Church of Christ in Al Hasaheisa, and we wish all those injured a swift and full recovery. We are particularly alarmed by the threat issued to all Christians in the area, who are a vulnerable minority community that has suffered abuses both historically and during this conflict. The targeting of places of worship violates both domestic and international law, and, in the context of conflict, international humanitarian law. We call on the international community, including the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, to document these attacks thoroughly with a view towards ensuring accountability. Once again, CSW calls on the warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire, and on the international community to increase efforts to ensure the protection of civilians in Sudan.’