Food and medicines are lacking for civilians living in the Nuba Mountains controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. The only supplies that reach the mountains come via the barely passable southern route to South Sudan and Uganda, or through the ‘souq sambuk’, clandestine markets where Nuba meet nomads and traders from the government-held areas.
Displaced people who fled to the mountains from other parts of South Kordofan face the most acute destitution. More than 60,000 Nuba have trekked southward to refugee camps in South Sudan, while others have left the rebel strongholds for government towns, in search of assistance from national aid organizations or labor opportunities.
Yet more Nuba civilians, on the other hand, have remained in the mountains despite extremely harsh conditions. A gallery of photos by Radio Tamazuj depicts the life and color of a region darkened by war for more than a year, as seasonal rains plunge the region even deeper into isolation: Photo gallery (on the Picasa website): Life in Nuba Mountains.