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18 September 2026
Uganda
Kibirige Abumusa, a 52-year-old Christian convert, is in hiding in eastern Uganda while recovering from an assault by his five adult sons, who attacked him after learning that he had left Islam. He converted at an evangelistic event in Jinja City on 1 June and returned to his home in Nakalama in early August. One son confronted him there, calling him an infidel who deserved to die, before all five beat him outside the family home. A neighbour witnessed and photographed the attack. Fearing further reprisals, Abumusa has not reported his sons to police.
Algeria
Police detained twelve Christians after raiding a worship service in L’ Avaida on 4 September. The group had gathered in an apartment at the House of Shelter Refuge, a complex whose worship hall was forcibly closed by the authorities in October 2019. Officers seized Christian literature, mobile phones and identity cards before taking the detainees to Bethioua police station for questioning. The final detainee was released at around 3am the next morning.
China
Church in Chains has reported that Fu Xuanjuan (47) was paroled in September 2025, ten months before her six-year sentence was due to end on 1 July 2026. Fu and her husband, Deng Tianyong, worked for a technology company selling audio Bible players when they were arrested in 2020 for “illegal business operations.” Fu, the company’s executive director, was sentenced to six years in prison, while Deng received three years and was released in July 2023.
11 September 2026
Pakistan
21-year-old Christian woman, Saba Mehboob, who was separated from her husband of six years, was shot and killed on 3 September in her parents’ home in Rawalpindi after rejecting a Muslim neighbours advances. According to Saba’s brother who witnessed the murder, the alleged assailant, Adnan Butt, entered the family home around 9pm, armed with a pistol. After confronting Saba, he shot her in the forehead.
Nigeria
The killing of three Christians on Saturday 5 September by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Mangu County, Plateau State, has brought the total number of Christians killed in the area over the past month to thirty. This latest attack targeted the communities of Fungtim and Kinat. The Governor of Plateau state has visited some of the villages affected by the recent attacks and a spokesperson for the state police has confirmed that a number of suspects have been arrested.
India
Two incidents targeting Christians in West Bengal have highlighted growing tension in the state. Around 11 a.m. on Sunday 6 September a house-church meeting was disrupted by around 25 people who vandalised the home of Protestant pastor Sukhendu Singh before abducting him and taking him to the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office, where he was allegedly tortured. In a separate incident the same morning, a mob of around 125 Hindus broke into a Presbyterian house church building in Rangilabasan village in East Medinipur and caused extensive damage.
4 September 2026
India
Seven pastors who were each given five-year prison terms in June after being convicted under Madhya Pradesh’s anti- conversion laws, have been released on bail and granted leave to appeal the sentences. The seven men, who were first arrested in April following an allegation that they were inducing Hindu’s to convert in the Dindori District of the state, were freed after paying around £160 each. They are required to return to court on 7 January 2027.
Russia
A researcher in the Moscow region is being prosecuted after her work was cited by an international organisation with which she says she has had no contact. Olga Sibiryova, of the Sova Centre, one of Russia’s leading monitors of freedom of religion or belief, faces prosecution under Administrative Code Article 20.33, which prohibits “participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation.”
Nepal Flood Disaster
This week we agreed to act as a channel for relief donations made from Scotland to our partners in Kathmandu, who are providing relief packs and emergency shelters to Christian families affected by the catastrophic glacier collapse and ensuing flash flood. The delivery of aid is being coordinated in Nepal by Pastor Suraj Kasula who leads the Bhaktapur Theological Seminary. The team from Bhaktapur are preparing an initial 100 aid packs containing emergency tents and food staples at a cost of 7,700 Nepali Rupees (c. £35) per pack.
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