NAIROBI, Kenya — A rare video shot by a soldier in a unit nicknamed the “match battalion” shows Sudanese troops burning a village in southern Sudan last year.
The 5-minute cellphone video shows bright orange flames burning through a stick-hut village. One soldier carries a flaming torch as the sound of gunfire cracks in the background.
The video was shared on Monday with The Associated Press by Ryan Boyette, an American who lives in Southern Kordofan, a state in Sudan where rebel fighters often associated with South Sudan are battling troops from the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The video was found on the body of a dead Sudanese soldier, Boyette said. He estimates that the burning of the village — Umbartumbo, in Southern Kordofan — took place last August. The AP could not verify the date or location of the video. Boyette said the video is the first time images of Sudanese troops burning villages have surfaced during the one-year conflict.
Boyette said Monday that SAF forces usually burn villages that it occupies in areas controlled by rebel fighters known by the initials SPLA-N, or Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North. The SPLA — without the “N’’ for North — is a former rebel movement that is now the legitimate army of the separate nation of South Sudan.
In the cellphone video, gray smoke hangs over the village. The apparent owner of the cellphone poses in front of the camera multiple times. The commander of the troops gives orders in Sudanese Arabic.
“Matches, where are the matches? Burn this house,” the commander says, according to translation provided by Boyette, who helps run www.NubaReports.org — a newsgathering website.
Boyette said that Sudanese troops frequently burn villages. The most recent burning, he said, occurred May 20 in the village of Angolo.
Fighting between Sudanese and SPLA-N forces began one year ago. The violence has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing for safety. Aid groups have pleaded with Sudan to allow them to operate in Southern Kordofan to help those in need but Sudan continues to ban them from operating.
The fighting is part of the web of violence across the Sudan-South Sudan border. South Sudan broke away from Sudan last July after a peaceful vote. That referendum was the result of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of fighting between the two Sudans. Despite that accord and last year’s peaceful split, violence still hangs over the border region.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Newer articles:
- Kenya's CFC Stanbic starts South Sudan operations - Reuters - 12/06/2012 12:19
- South Sudan Proposes Arbitration as Border Talks Falter - Wall Street Journal - 12/06/2012 11:18
- WDM man returns from South Sudan - DesMoinesRegister.com - 12/06/2012 11:07
- Video purports to show soldiers burning village in southern Sudan - Los Angeles Times - 11/06/2012 20:53
- The 1000 Mile Difference - KELOLAND TV - 11/06/2012 18:10
Older news items
- Israel starts rounding up South Sudanese for deportation - Radio Netherlands - 11/06/2012 15:06
- Thousands flee bombings, flood into camps in South Sudan - CTV.ca - 11/06/2012 04:27
- Sudan's Leading Edge - The Cutting Edge - 11/06/2012 01:05
- World's newest nation South Sudan battles to open embassies - Chicago Tribune - 10/06/2012 19:13
- South Sudanese migrants arrested in Eilat - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 10/06/2012 18:38
Latest news items (all categories):
- UN experts say South Sudan is close to securing a $13 billion oil-backed loan from a UAE company - 18/05/2024 11:54
- DRC, South Sudan units top Equity’s earnings in first quarter - 18/05/2024 11:49
- Innuendos and tittle tattle of Kiir's regime - 18/05/2024 11:44
- South Sudan government, rebel groups sign pact to achieve lasting peace - 18/05/2024 09:58
- إلى متى ينظر الجميع إلى الفيل و يطعنون ظله..؟ - 15/05/2024 21:51
Random articles (all categories):
- US envoy: South Sudan gov't prepares attack in border state - 30/11/2016 04:38
- South Sudan: world's youngest country marks a complicated milestone - 09/07/2016 09:52
- South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year's Day talks - mediators - 01/01/2014 03:26
- Spotlight: South Sudan marks nine years of independence - 09/07/2020 10:09
- Israel begins deportation of South Sudanese migrants; Interior ... - Haaretz - 18/06/2012 16:21
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 35575 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 21875 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 20767 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 17454 times
- With prisons full, South Sudan to introduce mobile courts to clear backlog of cases - 11/10/2012 11:29 - Read 14236 times