Unexploded cluster bombs dropped in Tabanya, South Kordofan

Sudanese warplanes dropped cluster bombs last week into the village of Tabanya in SPLA-N controlled Thobo County of South Kordofan, harming no one but leaving behind some deadly unexploded bomblets.

Sudanese warplanes dropped cluster bombs last week into the village of Tabanya in SPLA-N controlled Thobo County of South Kordofan, harming no one but leaving behind some deadly unexploded bomblets.

According to the South Kordofan and Blue Nile Coordination Unit, a monitoring group, two jet fighters dropped four cluster bombs into the village on 10 July. “Some of the bombs did not explode, leaving unexploded bomblets on the ground that are threatening the lives of the civilians,” the group said in a report dated 15 July.

Cluster bombs are prohibited by an international convention that the Government of Sudan has not joined. Cluster bombs were also used in South Kordofan in May 2015.

Separately, a 17 year old boy was killed on 30 June by shelling in Nugra village (Tangel payam, Um Dorein county) in South Kordofan when 12 shells were fired from the state capital Kadugli by government forces, according to the same organization. The shells also killed 3 cows.

Photo: Cluster bomb found in Tongoli, Delami county, April 2015 (Human Rights Watch)