Sudanese Christians Vulnerable to Atrocities in Ongoing Civil War

Sudanese Christians Vulnerable to Atrocities in Ongoing Civil War

Karen Faulkner

Sudan’s tiny Christian community has been subject to targeted extreme violence as well as to the general horror inflicted by the ongoing latest war to be unleashed on civilians, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

Chronically devastated by wars and humanitarian crises, Sudan was beginning to recover strength after ousting brutal Islamic dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. An interim Western-supported government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok took over from the Bashir regime and began to work toward the peace and religious tolerance it had promised. However, Hamdok was deposed during a 2021 military coup organized jointly by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group formed in 2013 that operated on behalf of the Sudanese government to fight insurgents.

Once the coup was accomplished, the SAF and RSF turned on each other in a bid for ultimate power in April last year, triggering the current civil war that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions more.

In particular, ICC said in its report: “The well-equipped SAF often bombs churches, indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children.”

“A tiny minority in a country rocked by militancy and instability, Sudan’s Christians are in a particularly vulnerable place today,” ICC attests.

“International efforts to quell the conflict have produced few results, and little seems to be happening to address the targeted violence against Christians caught in the crosshairs. The international community must increase its efforts to bring peace to Sudan and to protect the country’s fragile Christian population.”