At least three people have been killed and four others wounded by Sudan Air Force bombardments in the locality of Habila in South Kordofan. Sources from Habila told Radio Tamazuj that the Sudanese Air Force on 26 November dropped about 20 bombs on the area, forcing a large number of people to flee.

Taiba Salim (22), El Bara Jabir (42) and Zeinab Marko (50) were killed. Islam Suleiman Hamad (14), Osman Abu Joda (13), Pasha Suleiman Hamad (12) and Ibtisam Suleiman (9) were injured. The bombs also destroyed a number of houses, killed livestock and damaged farmlands.

The spokesperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Arno Ngutulo Lodi, in a press statement reported that at least 20,000 people have been displaced during between 21 and 25 November between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front at Shamsaga, Hajier and Karko areas in South Kordofan.

Lodi reported to Radio Tamazuj that, apart from a large number of civilians killed and injured, around 24,920 people fled from Sudanese army and militia troops looting and torching their villages in the north of the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan State.

“Since these war-torn areas are far from any international border, the villagers took refuge in the forests and the hills where they are surviving in very difficult conditions, without having shelter, food, or medicines.”

The spokesperson noted that these attacks are part of the “large military campaign” announced by the Sudanese government in mid November. According to the Sudanese Minister of Defence, the military campaign aims at resolving “the insurgency in the Darfur, the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states for once and for all”. “Yet,” Lodi said, “the attacks are primarily targeting innocent civilians while requests for safe corridors for humanitarian aid are denied.”

“In Rashad County, Antonovs and Sukhoi aircraft bombed the villages of Shamsaga, Hajier and Tira for three consecutive days. In Shamsaga 10 people were killed and 18 injured. 12,000 fled the village. In Hajier four civilians were killed and six wounded, while 8,000 are on-the-run, and in Tira 1,200 villagers were displaced."

Lodi added that the SPLM-N holds Sudan’s First Vice President, Ali Osman Taha, who recently visited Abu Zabad Town, responsible for the displacement of the people in the Nuba Mountains.

File photo