Testimonies across Sudan revealed escalating violence against Sudan’s Christian minority during the country’s ongoing war, from drone strikes, church demolitions and intimidation.
The testimonies, cited in an investigation by Sky News Arabia, add to a growing list of allegations of atrocities committed by both sides in Sudan’s war, with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces accused of abuses.
Christians are estimated to number about two million in Sudan, roughly four per cent of the population. While religious freedoms improved during the civilian-led transitional period after 2019, the 2021 military coup and subsequent war have renewed concerns over religious freedom and minority protection.
On December 25, 2025, SAF drones struck a Christmas gathering in the village of Jaloud in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, killing and wounding 31 people, according to witnesses and local groups cited by the report.
The area was not a military position or an active front line, but a religious gathering in a region where Christians make up about 45 per cent of the population.
Weeks earlier, in November, drones targeted a health centre in Komo, in Heiban county, also in South Kordofan. The facility is used mainly by schoolchildren seeking medical treatment. A local movement reported 46 people were killed in the strike, including 19 students and eight children, with 22 others wounded.
Residents said the site was hit repeatedly, including as civilians attempted to evacuate the wounded.
A resident of Komo stated that the strike on the health centre occurred without warning. “We were there for treatment when the drone hit suddenly,” she said. “People ran in all directions. There were civilians injured everywhere, including students who had come from school".
She added that the area was struck again as residents tried to evacuate the wounded. “When some people tried to move the injured by car, the drones returned and struck again,” she explained. “That is when many students and civilians were killed.”
The mother of a schoolgirl killed in the attack said she only learned her daughter had been at the health centre after the strike. “I rushed to the site and found my daughter’s body outside the building,” she said in a written testimony obtained by Sky News Arabia. “I believed she was still at school.”
The investigation said the incidents in the Nuba Mountains form part of a broader pattern affecting Christian communities across Sudan since the outbreak of war in April 2023.
A US State Department representative said that since that date, Washington has 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 official told The National.
The US viewed Sudan as a "Country of Particular Concern" under the Omar Al Bashir regime. The State Department official said the US is focused on preventing the return of "institutionalised persecution" of Christians and the return of extremists who might further violate religious freedom.
Between March and December 2025, at least 13 churches were demolished in Khartoum and surrounding areas after SAF regained control of the capital, forcing more than 35,000 Christians to flee, according to local estimates. Sources said the demolitions were carried out by state security committees dominated by Islamists linked to the former ruling establishment.
In December, a report by Sudan Witness said air strikes by SAF since the start of the civil war have killed at least 1,719 civilians and wounded more than a thousand others. It documented 384 air strikes launched by the army.
In the same month, a report by investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports, conducted in collaboration with CNN, has uncovered a campaign of ethnically motivated atrocities carried out by SAF mainly targeting non-Arab communities.
It revealed mass killings of civilians in Al Jazirah state, south of Khartoum, by troops and allied Islamist-backed militias. An officer said army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan was informed of the killings.
Gen Al Burhan, who is under US sanctions and is accused of allowing his troops to use chemical weapons, has rejected calls for a ceasefire and vowed to keep fighting until the RSF is defeated. His troops have long been linked to Islamist-backed figures and influence within Sudan’s security apparatus.
The UN has warned of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, especially by the RSF. But rights groups say accountability for abuses committed by all sides in the conflict remains limited.
In Port Sudan, where the government and army leadership relocated during the war, churches were defaced with religious slogans ahead of Christmas, in incidents that occurred in daylight and near police stations, without any announced investigations.
A resident of Jaloud village, where worshippers were targeted during Christmas celebrations, said the area had no military presence. “This was a church gathering, not a military site,” he said. “There were families and children, and it was Christmas.”
A Christian resident of Port Sudan said the incidents had left the community fearful. “These things happened in broad daylight, near police stations, and nothing was done,” he said. “Before the war, this city was safe. Now people are afraid.”
