Two church leaders in Sudan, Rev. Yaqob Ibrahim Tia and Zakaria Suliman Jana, were separately kidnapped in late July by breakaway members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North. Pastor Tia was taken on July 23 along with two sons, ages 17 and 20, a 15-year-old nephew, and the brother of a local Catholic priest. He and his family were released on July 28. Pastor Jana was kidnapped on July 31 and released on August 1, following a hand-over meeting with local church leaders.
The kidnappings came amid a wider surge in attacks on Christians in the region. On July 24, Episcopal pastor Adel Idris Jongool was shot and killed in Heiban District, and a Catholic priest and guard were killed in June at a parish in Kauda. Hundreds of people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, have been displaced.