A pastor and three Christians all traveling together in Sudan were killed in an attack believed to be the work of Islamic extremists.
In the same attack, four of the victims’ traveling companions were wounded, reported Morning Star News.
The assailants fired on the men in the early morning hours of Jan. 23, while the travelers were spending the night in Kadugli in the South Kordofan state of Sudan.
A local church leader identified those killed as Sudanese-American pastor Ibrahim Kandr, Ismail Osman, Bashir Almaak and Ayoub Ibrahim.
On Jan. 8 in Nyala town in Sudan’s South Darfur Province, masked men in a government vehicle arrested two Christians who had converted from Islam, a source said. The two Christians were released that day.
Morning Star reports indicate local Muslim teachers had warned the two Christians to stop evangelizing Muslims.
For two years after Omar al-Bashir’s dictatorship ended in 2019, advances in religious freedom were made in Sudan. However, a military coup in 2021 has renewed concerns that government-sponsored religious persecution could return.
Sudan is No. 10 on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
