JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An American pastor who was kidnapped last week by armed and masked men during a sermon in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa was rescued on Tuesday after three of his abductors engaged in gunfire with officials and were killed, police said Wednesday.
The 45-year-old American, Josh Sullivan from Tennessee, has been based in the Motherwell township branch of the Fellowship Baptist Church since 2018 alongside his wife and two children.
The missionary was abducted on Thursday when four men broke into the church. They stole two cellphones from members of the congregation before seizing Sullivan from the pulpit and bundling him out of the building. His truck was found abandoned a few hours later.
A multi-agency task force, including the Anti-Gang Unit and the Serious Organised Crime Unit, took over the investigation. On Tuesday night they approached the location where they suspected Sullivan was being held, a house in KwaMagxaki in the city of Gqeberha, about 20 minutes' drive from the Baptist church.
According to police, a shootout began when suspects in a car parked outside the house tried to escape and began firing at them. Three unidentified suspects were killed, police said.
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said in a statement. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
The number of kidnappings in South Africa has risen by 264% over the past decade, police data showed.
According to the Institute of Security Studies, a think tank specializing in Africa, kidnapping has become a key tactic in armed robberies and carjackings. In its latest Africa report, the ISS noted that less than 5% of kidnappings in South Africa involve ransom demands.
Since his release, Sullivan, who describes himself as “a church-planting missionary” on his personal website, has been reunited with his wife, Meagan, and their two children.
A man named Tom Hatley, whom Sullivan describes on his blog as the pastor who trained him, posted a picture of Sullivan and his family on Facebook. “Josh has been released,” Hatley wrote.
“Thank you for your support and prayers. Please do not stop praying for the Sullivans,” his post read.
South African Police Service, South African law enforcement officers walk inside a yard of the house where an American missionary Josh Sullivan was being held in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha, South Africa, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo)
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Neelum Valley in northern Pakistan attracts some 300,000 tourists each summer who marvel at its natural beauty. But the threat of war with nearby India has emptied its hotels.
Gunmen last week killed 26 people in the Indian resort town of Pahalgam, fueling tensions between the nuclear-armed nations after India blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Pakistan denies.
Neelum Valley is less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, making it vulnerable to any military activity.
Hotel owner Rafaqat Hussain said Thursday the crisis has hit the tourism industry hard. “Most tourists have left and returned to their cities because there is a risk of war."
Authorities in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir temporarily shuttered dozens of tourist resorts following the attack as a precaution.
No such order has come from Pakistani authorities. Bazaars in the Pakistani border town of Chakothi were open for business, although people were concerned.
“First of all, our prayer is for peace, as war always affects civilians first,” shop owner Bashir Mughal told The Associated Press, saying he would fight alongside the army in the event of conflict.
Pakistan used to help residents to build bunkers near their homes during periods of intense cross-border firing. But the population has grown and some homes lack shelters. “Local casualties could be devastating if war breaks out,” Mughal warned.
Saiqa Naseer, also from Chakothi, shuddered at the childhood memories of frequent firing across the border. “Now, as a mother, I find myself facing the same fears,” she said.
She remembered Indian shells striking the picturesque valley when the two countries came close to war in 2019. She has a bunker at her home.
“If war comes, we will stay here. We won’t run away,” she said.
Shop are closed at an empty tourists point in Karen, in the Neelum Valley near on the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, some 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ishfaq Hussain)
Local residents look at the Indian side of Kashmir from a tourists point in Karen, in the Neelum Valley near on the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, some 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ishfaq Hussain)
An Indian army post is seen from a hill view tourists point in Karen, in the Neelum Valley near on the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, some 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ishfaq Hussain)
A motorcyclist drives through an empty market at a tourists point in Karen, in the Neelum Valley near on the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, some 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ishfaq Hussain)
Local residents look at the Indian side of Kashmir from an empty tourists point in Karen, in the Neelum Valley near on the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, some 93 kilometres (58 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ishfaq Hussain)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint at Wagah, a joint border crossing point on the Pakistan and India border, near Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, May 1, 2025.(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Local residents take picture with their mobile phones of Indian side Kashmir, at a view point from Pakistan side on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, in Chilhana, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Local residents walk through the main bazaar of Chakothi, near Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, some 61 kilometers (38 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Roshan Mughal)
Paramilitary soldiers frisk a car at a checkpoint at Wagah, a joint border crossing point on the Pakistan and India border, near Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, May 1, 2025.(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Vehicles pass through a checkpoint at Wagah, a joint border crossing point on the Pakistan and India border, near Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, May 1, 2025.(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A local resident takes pictures with his mobile phone of Indian side Kashmir, at a view point from Pakistan side on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, in Chilhana, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
A village of Indian side Kashmir, is seen from the Pakistan side on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, in Chilhana, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Local residents unload pipes from a vehicle at the main bazaar of Chakothi, near Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, some 61 kilometres (38 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Roshan Mughal)
Local residents walk on a highway near on the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Pakistan and Indian Kashmir, in Chilhana, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
