Violence reaches Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, where Christians once found refuge

The useful part

The region has absorbed close to 1 million people – mainly Christian refugees – since the early stages of the war, which began in 2023. The war between the country's military and Rapid Support Forces has killed an estimated 59,000 people, though aid groups believe the number could be much higher. Last week, a rebel struck two villages there, killing at least 27 people – including four children – and injuring many others.

How it works

• The peak of the violence in the Nuba Mountains, a region in ​the South-Central state of South Kordofan where those of different faiths have long lived side by side, has killed Christian clergy and their...
• The latest incident in the escalating violence came after the killing of a Protestant pastor in late July and a Catholic priest in mid-June.
• Youhanna Al-Amin, a Catholic priest, was shot and killed by militants in Kauda.
• "The leaders lived among the people, offering services beyond just spiritual needs.
• The local people feel they have lost pastors who were standing for them." Approximately 45% of those in the Nuba Mountains identify as Christians.

Details worth keeping

[Religion News Service] A region in Sudan that was once a safe haven for refugees and where nearly half the population is Christian has become another scene of deadly violence as the country's army and paramilitary battle in a fourth year of war. Abel Idris Jongool, an Anglican priest in the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in Debe, died of his injuries after a July 24 attack on his community near Korkel Theological College, the Anglican seminary serving both dioceses in the Nuba Mountains. "It's difficult for the people after the killing of the religious leaders – many of them are disturbed that their religious leaders are being targeted," Bolis Jacob Medan, a Sudanese Christian youth leader and an activist in the area, told Religion News Service in an Aug.