An American pastor abducted during a church service in South Africa has been rescued following a police operation that ended in a deadly shootout with his captors.

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Josh Sullivan, 45, was found unharmed in a house in the Gqeberha township of the Eastern Cape on Tuesday evening, five days after armed men kidnapped him during a religious gathering.

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Authorities confirmed that three suspects were killed during what was described as a "high-intensity shoot-out" involving South Africa’s elite crime-fighting unit, the Hawks.

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Mr Sullivan’s abduction had sparked a manhunt, following a ransom demand issued by his kidnappers. His case is one of many in a country grappling with a growing trend of ransom-related kidnappings.

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In a statement issued Wednesday, Hawks spokesperson Avele Fumba detailed the events of the operation: “Verified intelligence [led to] a coordinated team… [that] moved swiftly to the identified location.”

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According to Mr Fumba, the confrontation escalated quickly as the suspects tried to flee the scene. “As the officers approached the house, the suspects attempted to flee inside a vehicle, while opening fire. The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded,” he said.

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Sullivan’s disappearance drew public outcry and urgent appeals for his release from loved ones and fellow church members.

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Jeremy Hall, a spokesman for the Sullivan family, told TimesLIVE that the pastor had been with his wife and children at the time of the kidnapping. “They knew his name,” he recalled.

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Describing himself on his personal website as “a church planting missionary,” Mr Sullivan wrote that he and his family relocated to South Africa in 2018 to start a church for Xhosa-speaking communities.

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