Christian Community in Africa Faces Growing Threat from Extremism and Conflict

Sudan’s Christians Face Escalating Persecution Amid Civil War

Christians in Sudan are enduring unprecedented levels of suffering as the country’s brutal civil war continues. According to the latest Open Doors World Watch List for 2026, Sudan now ranks as the fourth worst country globally for Christian persecution, climbing one position from last year’s assessment.

The northeastern African nation is home to approximately two million Christians, whose roots in the region date back to the late first century. As Sudan’s civil war has surpassed the grim 1,000-day mark, casualties have mounted to an estimated 150,000 deaths, with more than 13 million people displaced from their homes.

Many of Sudan’s Christians reside in the Nuba Mountains within the Kordofan region, an area currently facing relentless attacks. “The Nuba Mountains now, where the majority of our church members come from, is under siege and bombing every day for the last six or seven months,” Rafat Samir, general secretary of the Sudan Evangelical Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “Last week, after Christmas, they bombed our church, hospital and school.”

The violence targeting Christian communities shows no signs of abating. A recent MEMRI report cited an incident where 11 Sudanese Christians were killed during a Christmas Day procession to their church by a drone strike allegedly carried out by the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which reportedly have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Another 18 people were injured in the attack.

Conditions have deteriorated dramatically for Christians since the outbreak of hostilities. Last year, reports emerged that Christians were eating grass to survive. According to Samir, the situation has worsened further: “even the grass is gone now.”

Mariam Wahba, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warns of the cultural devastation occurring alongside the humanitarian crisis. “The conflict is accelerating the erasure of ancient Christian communities and sacred heritage,” she told Fox News Digital. “These losses will be far harder to reverse than the rebuilding of roads or ministries once the guns fall silent.”

The religious dimension of the conflict compounds the suffering of Christians. According to Samir, “Both sides in the civil conflict are daughters of the Islamist movement in Sudan, and the Islamic ideology of both of them is to not have tolerance for others. They consider everyone different from them is against them. The Christian is considered their enemy as part of their religious ideology, and opposing them their religious duty.”

He added that under these conditions, “whoever does something to harm Christians is considered favorable to the law or to Allah” and warned that “the country is getting back to the dark ages.”

Repeated diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire between the government’s SAF and the opposing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have failed. Fighting continues unabated, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence, particularly in the Kordofan region.

A State Department spokesperson acknowledged the deteriorating situation, stating, “Since the April 2023 outbreak of conflict in Sudan, we have witnessed significant backsliding in Sudan’s overall respect for fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom. This backsliding especially impacts Sudan’s oppressed ethnic and religious populations, including Christians.”

The spokesperson added that “the United States is committed to ending the horrific conflict in Sudan” and that “under President Trump’s leadership, we are working with our allies and others to facilitate a humanitarian truce and bring an end to external military support to the parties which is fueling the violence.”

The United Nations has also expressed grave concerns about the escalating violence in Kordofan. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on January 18 that “atrocity crimes committed during and after the takeover of El Fasher are at grave risk of repeating themselves in the Kordofan region, where the conflict has been rapidly escalating since late October.”

According to Wahba, while the US has expressed desire to see the conflict resolved—a goal shared by regional powers like Egypt and Saudi Arabia—American involvement is likely to remain limited. “U.S. policy is centered on convening regional stakeholders and pressing for alignment among them, while prioritizing humanitarian corridors, aid delivery and coordination with partners willing to host talks. Washington is acting as a facilitator, not an enforcer.”

Despite the bleak situation, Samir maintains hope: “The Holy Spirit is moving and God’s hand is working in our country. I can tell you through this evil, this darkness, the light of love of our God is lighting in many hearts. The devil is stealing people to death every day. We pray that let us Christians live for one day more, for one day more to proclaim Jesus’s message.”