Reports emerge of arson attack on church in Kadugli

Reports have emerged that the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) in South Morta, Kadugli, in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, was badly damaged in an arson attack on 6 April 2026.

Kadugli is a strategic city in the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in April 2023. Access to and through Kadugli has been important for both warring parties and their allied militias, leading to periods of intensive fighting. Consequently, communications networks are periodically blocked by parties to the conflict, restricting real-time information on developments in the region.

The church in South Morta is the only Christian place of worship in the area. In 2019 some Muslim residents had complained to the local authority about the presence of the church. In response to their complaint, the local mayor ordered the church to stop all activities and take down their building.

However, on 5 July 2020 the church administrators argued that while the complainants had access to two mosques and a religious school in the area, this was the only place of worship for the Christian community. The mayor accepted this argument, and the church was permitted to remain open. Since then, the Christian community was able to worship peacefully until 6 April 2026, when they awoke to find the worship centre had been burned down overnight.

The building suffered extensive internal and structural damage during the attack and needed to be completely rebuilt. The community, which continues to meet on church grounds, has since begun reconstruction efforts, and is currently holding weekly services under trees.

Following the removal of former President Omar al Bashir in April 2019, Sudan saw a rise in attacks on Christian places of worship perpetrated by non-state actors. In 2020 churches in Omdurman and Blue Nile were set on fire by extremists. In 2022 a church in Gadarfe, East Sudan, was also set on fire.

In June 2026 a priest and two church guards of a Catholic church were killed in the Nuba Mountains following several months of violence between tribes.

CSW’s Founder and President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW condemns the arson attack on the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in Kadugli. This attack, which runs contrary to the Nuba Mountains’ long history of being an area of exceptional peaceful coexistence, occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict. We call on the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators of the attack are held to account, and that the Christian community can continue to use their place of worship without fear or intimidation.’