Morning Star News reported that temporary worship structures in southeastern Sudan were set ablaze on 16 January and three weeks after the buildings they had replaced were burned down, sources said.

In southeastern Sudan’s Blue Nile state, Islamists in Bout, Tadamon District were suspected of burning down the structures erected after arsonists on Dec. 28 razed the worship buildings of the Sudan Interior Church, Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church, according to local news reports and a source in South Sudan close to the border area.

“This incident is true, the three churches were set on fire twice in less than a month,” the pastor in Maban, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told Morning Star News.

Sudanese Minister of Religious Affairs Nasr al-Din Mufreh issued a statement saying police had arrested and questioned a suspect who was released due to lack of evidence, according to one report. Asserting that only one church building was burned, Mufreh said Sudan was committed to religious freedom and protecting houses of worship from any threats.

In light of advances in religious freedom since former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April, the U.S. State Department announced on Dec. 20 that Sudan had been removed from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage or tolerate “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” and was upgraded to a watch list.

Sudan had been designated a CPC by the U.S. State Department since 1999.

Following the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Bashir had vowed to adopt a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and the Arabic language. Church leaders said Sudanese authorities demolished or confiscated churches and limited Christian literature on the pretext that most Christians have left the country following South Sudan’s secession.

See full article here.

Photo is courtesy of Pixabay.