Four people were killed and six were injured over the weekend in al-Buram, in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, as the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) carried out an aerial bombardment.

The attacks took place over Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to the spokesman for Sudanese rebel group, the SPLA-North, Arnu Nogotolu Lodi.

Four civilians, including two children, died in the attack while six others were wounded and are reportedly receiving treatment in one of the nearby health centres.

The attack is also said to have destroyed a great deal of civilian property and led to the death and theft of a large number of livestock.

Lodi described how the attacks happened:

“… On the 21^st April at 10am an Antonov war plane dropped bombs at Buram killing two cows and in Tanaso village near to Buram they dropped bombs around the Church while believers were inside during the Sunday mass, leading to the injury of a child Sofi al-Basari in addition to a civilian called Abdel Baggi.”

He went onto describe the thefts and ground attacks.

“At 11pm on the same day the forces robbed more than 300 head of cattle after attacking the a cattle’ camp at night and also killed two civilians, Hamid Turkashi Tamin, 35 years old, and two children called Osman Shawish, 10 years old, and Ibrahim Shawish, 17 years old,as well as injuring 4 others  with serious injuries.  They include a child Kuki al-Haj Kabaki, 9 years old, Osman Hamid Turkashi whose father was killed with the other two children and Kutala al-Haj Gismallah, 13 years old, and child Suleman Shawish, 15 years old. On the 22^nd at 9:34 Sudan Antonov plane dropped 4 bombs on the area and burned 70 houses in Buram locality.”

SPLA-N and SAF have been fighting since 2011 in South Kordofan state and since 2012 in its neighbouring state, Blue Nile.

Both parties are currently participating in peace talks in Addis Ababa under African Union leadership support from Thabo Mbeki.