Khartoum Christians Hold On as Drone Strike Kills Four in Sudan's Capital
A ministry says the city's small church remains, though often hidden, after a strike on Oct. 19 that killed three children, part of a wave of drone attacks across Sudan.
KHARTOUM, Sudan —
A drone strike killed four people in Sudan's capital on the morning of Oct. 19, and the city's small Christian minority is living under the threat of more attacks, International Christian Concern reported Oct. 22.
Agence France-Presse reported that the drone hit a house in a neighborhood east of Khartoum airport, killing four people, including three children between the ages of two and six, according to a medical source. An army official told AFP that air defenses intercepted drones from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces aimed at the airport and nearby areas. ICC said reports attribute the attack to the RSF.
The strike was part of a wave of drone attacks across Sudan that killed more than 100 people starting Oct. 18, according to AFP, which cited residents, medical workers and paramilitary sources. The deadliest single strike, in Al-Dibab in West Kordofan, killed 80 people, residents and medical workers said.
ICC said Christians in Khartoum face pressure from hostile neighbors as well as the drones. Some churches have been looted, occupied or destroyed since the war began in April 2023, and some worship sites have become military positions, the group said. Converts and church leaders are acting with more caution.
A pastor who works with ICC and asked not to be named said believers take comfort in God's care “even when the drones fly overhead and the night is long.” Another eyewitness, also unnamed, told the group, “Our God is still on the throne in Khartoum.”
ICC described the church in the capital as smaller, quieter and often hidden, but still present. Watchman News has not independently confirmed the details of ICC's account of the Christian community.
Aid workers estimate the war between Sudan's army and the RSF has killed more than 200,000 people, AFP reported. The United Nations says more than 1,100 people were killed in drone attacks in the first half of 2026.
