‘Dedicated’ priest killed by militia in Sudan civil war

Fr Yuhana Alamin was killed little more than a year after the death of Fr Luka Jomo, parish priest of El Fasher in North Darfur, during the siege of the city in the country’s western region.

A second Catholic priest died in violence connected to Sudan’s civil war, a year after the death of another during a siege.

Fr Yuhana Alamin was shot and killed on 19 June in his parish residence in Kauda, South Kordofan State, in ​the South-Central part of the country, according to a statement from the Diocese of El-Obeid. It said two other people were shot in the same incident.

“The faithful of the Holy Cross Parish, the Catholic Community and all the people of goodwill are deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” said Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku of El-Obeid. “Fr Yuhana Alamin was well known for his dedicated pastoral service, commitment to the service and care for ​​those entrusted to him.”

Yuhana was killed little more than a year after the death of Fr Luka Jomo, parish priest of El Fasher in North Darfur, in the country’s western region. Jomo died on 13 June when he was struck by stray bullet during the siege of the city by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. He had been preparing to evacuate from the besieged city.

Bishop Trille reported that soldiers from one of the military factions in Kauda had come to the church compound on the evening of 18 June and demanded access to the medical store. According to the bishop, the ​​storekeeper had cooperated and the military men took as much as they could.

After that incident, Yuhana had told his superiors that the situation was deteriorating and he planned to evacuate the following day. Bishop Trille said that the soldiers had returned to the church, suspecting that the priest would report their theft, and shot the priest in his room along with two guards, one of whom died while the other was hospitalised.

“We await the investigation of the local authority with hope that it [brings] the perpetrators to book,” said Bishop Trille.

Kauda is controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, one of a series of militias that have seized territory amid the instability of the RSF’s fighting with government forces since 2023.

Aid to the Church in Need reported that the worsening security situation in the south of the country has forced religious ​​leaders to leave the region.

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