Security forces in Khartoum arrested two Sudanese pastors, according to sources in the Christian community.

Rev. Kowa Shamaal and Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim, both pastors in the Sudanese Church of Christ in Khartoum, were arrested there Friday. Family members said both men were taken from their homes.

Family members were not told why the two men were being arrested, nor where they have been taken.

Two South Sudanese preachers were arrested and charged with capital offenses earlier this year, but eventually released and returned to South Sudan after more than eight months in prison.

Abdelrahim is a moderator in the church, while Shamaal is the head of missions.

Christians in Sudan are asking the international community of churches to pressure the Sudanese government to release the two men.