Sudanese army bombard civilian areas in S. Kordofan: SPLM-N

March 11, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese warplanes bombed homes and inhabited areas in South Kordofan state said the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which also accused Khartoum of hampering the release of prisoners of war.

SPLM/A-N spokesperson, Arnu Nguttullu Loddi said on Wednesday that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) targeted a village in a rebel controlled area in South Kordofan and accused the government of terrorising civilians.

A SAF “air force Sokhoi Jet-fighter bombed Tanase Village in Tabo County (Boram) in South Kordofan, Nuba Mountains region, the attack which targeted a residential area, wounded a child girl, Saloom Habil Tiya, 15 years old,” Loddi said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The SPLM-N says the army systematically targets civilians, implementing a scorched earth policy to empty rebel-controlled areas from civilians.

Khartoum refuses to allow humanitarian access to the civilians in the SPLM-N-held areas, saying the aid will be used to feed rebel fighters.

In a separate statement the SPLM-N negotiating team spokesperson Mubarak Ardol said the Sudanese government still refuses to give the green light for the handover of twenty prisoners of war (POWs).

Last December , the SPLM-N decided to release the 20 POWs as gesture of goodwill for the Sa’ihoon group which held a series of meetings with the rebels in Addis Ababa over peace and democratic reforms.

The Red Cross said they need an authorisation to send an airplane to evacuate the POWs from the rebel areas to Addis Ababa.

The Sa’ihoon, a group of former Islamist fighters and members of the paramilitary, Popular Defence Forces (PSf) who in 2013 distanced themselves from the government of president Omer al-Bashir and demand the end of war and democratic reforms.

Ardol further said that Sudanese authorities prevent also the return of 22 mine workers from the SPLM-N areas in the Blue Nile to their families.

“The SPLM-N has already contacted the International Red Cross to facilitate their transport of the workers but the process is stalled because the Sudanese government refuses to allow the humanitarian group to facilitate the operation as it does for the Sa’ihoon initiative,” Ardol said.

Peace talks aiming to end the conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states failed to reach a cessation of hostilities last December.

(ST)