Civilians Flee, Soldiers Dig In On Sudanese Frontier - NPR

There's a tense calm at South Sudan's frontline, just 10 miles from the frontier with the neighbor to the north, Sudan. The South Sudan commander, Maj. Gen. Mangar Buong, says his troops remain on alert and on the defensive.

There is not a civilian in sight. They all fled the place, known as Panakuach, after Sudan's recent aerial bombardments and escalating concerns about a full-scale war.

South Sudan's soldiers sing morale-boosting tunes to rally the forces and keep their spirits up. They've dug trenches in the black earth, which is littered with bullet casings and remnants of what they say are bombs dropped by Sudan's air force.

After the singing, Pvt. John Nkoi Deng says he knows what he's defending. "This is our land. It belongs to us," he tells NPR. His colleagues nod in agreement.

Last month, South Sudan briefly captured the oil-rich town of Heglig – widely considered to be part of Sudan. That move triggered the most recent clashes. Southerners claim Heglig, which they call Panthou — meaning the place of Thou trees in the Nuer language.

Dispute Over Oil Region

The south's troops have left Heglig — though the sides disagree over whether it was international pressure or Sudan's military forces that drove them out.

Either way, the departure clearly did not please the South Sudan's military, including Buong, though they deferred to the politicians.

Buong says they await the outcome of talks to try to resolve the south's explosive quarrels with its neighbor over oil revenues and border demarcation.

But he is unequivocal. If dialogue breaks down, and Sudanese aerial and ground attacks continue, then South Sudan will respond with force.

"We don't want war," says the general, "but it is our right to defend South Sudan."

He says they are waiting for the world to assist in settling the differences, but warns: "I want to ask the world community to help the people of the north and south. But if the world community fails in this case of borders, then not just me, even my son, will go [to Heglig]."

South Sudan's army has no air force, and the government wants U.N. peacekeepers to create a demilitarized area in the disputed oil region until the problems are worked out.

Civilian Casualties In Hospital

A bumpy two-hour drive from the frontline leads to the South Sudan town of Bentiu, the capital of oil-exporting Unity State. Survivors are recovering in the hospital from a series of bombings in April and May.

Dr. Peter Gatkuoth Tob, the medical director of Bentiu State Hospital, says that since the beginning of April, patients have been admitted with injuries directly related to bomb attacks by Sudanese warplanes. Most of the patients are women and children, he notes.

"As a doctor, it's very painful to me," he tells NPR. "They have no power to defend themselves from bombs or from guns. So we don't know what the reason is for dropping bombs among the civilians. It's a very painful situation."

Sitting up and staring down at her amputated left leg, Nyachieng Nguot Teny, 25, is clearly traumatized. The young mother is on one hospital bed, while her 7-month-old boy, Dak Tab, is lying asleep, with a fractured leg, beside his grandmother on another bed.

Nguot describes hearing a plane and seven loud booms from bombs being dropped. The eighth, she did not hear. It landed on her thatched-roof hut on May 5. The next thing she knew, she woke up in the hospital, minus her left leg.

The young amputee mother says it is in God's hands whether her infant son will grow up in peace. But, she adds, "he will always know that his mother lost her leg for our beloved land."

Slow Recovery For Burn Victim

In the ward next door lies Mohamed Abderahman Kili, 56, a trader and another casualty from a bombing in April. Dr. Gatkuoth says Kili suffered burns to more than 90 percent of his body when his shop was hit.

"I'm just an ordinary man, working to feed his family and send his children to school, I don't know why this happened to me," he laments.

Most of Kili's black skin has peeled off, leaving a mass of pink and yellow — his face, arms, ears and back are still raw. His singed beard and hair are only now beginning to grow back.

Kili still believes Sudan and South Sudan can make peace and live side by side and he appeals to both countries to talk their way out of their problems.