In Sudan, militants execute seven people, including Christian pastor

Reverend Adil Idris Jangoul. Photo: Christian Solidarity Worldwide

In Sudan, a church leader from the Sudanese Episcopal Church in Heban was executed extrajudicially on 23 July along with six other people from the Otoro ethnic group, reports the human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The tragedy occurred on July 23, 2026, in the area of the town of Heban, located in the Nuba Mountains. Members of the extremist group Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM/N) broke into the grounds of the church complex where Reverend Adil Idris Jangoul resided.

The attackers took the pastor's money and arrested him. Some time later, his mutilated body was found on a road alongside the bodies of six other people. Human rights defenders classified the incident as an extrajudicial execution.

On the same day, a related inter-ethnic conflict broke out in Heiban, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people, while more than 20 local residents, including children, were taken hostage. Through the efforts and joint appeals of Christian ministers from various ethnic communities of the Nuba Mountains, all hostages were released on July 28.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas expressed deep condolences to the families of the victims and stated that he is deeply troubled by the rise in ethnically motivated violence. He emphasized that the Nuba Mountains have long stood as a bastion of peaceful co-existence of various peoples and faiths, even amid Sudan’s decades of divisive dictatorship and ongoing civil war.

The situation of Christians in Sudan continues to deteriorate rapidly. Local authorities and armed groups use Islamic laws to justify the forced conversion of Christians to Islam and the application of severe corporal punishment against them. Church buildings are subjected to bombing, arson, or are confiscated by militants for use as military bases.

As earlier reported, Sudanese authorities subjected Christian refugees to torture.

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