Nuba civilians bombed in Christian areas of Sudan - ChristianToday

The Sudanese government has stepped up bombing of its own non-Arab civilians in Christian areas of Sudan's South Kordofan state the past month, killing a 1-year-old baby and wounding others, sources said.

According to a story by Morning Star News, since South Sudan split from Sudan in a referendum last year, ethnic Nuba peoples in Sudan's South Kordofan state believe the government's goal of squashing Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLA-N) rebels carries an increasingly evident goal of ridding the area of non-Arab peoples and Christianity.

Citizen journalists at online news site www.nubareports.org claim that 81 of 102 bombings in South Kordofan in Oct. hit civilian areas under no ground attack. The bombings were not meant to provide air support for ground forces, and they did not hit SPLA-N soldiers.

Run by an aid worker who remained in South Kordofan after his Christian humanitarian organization was forced to evacuate when military conflict escalated last year, Nuba Reports' stated goal is to credibly report attacks on civilians as the government has forbidden media and aid agencies access to the area.

A Russian-made Antonov plane on Oct. 28 dropped six bombs in Hajar Jalab and six bombs in Tongoli village in Delami County in South Kordofan.

Morning Star News said they killed 1-year-old Mahdi Elimen and wounding Magdi Elimen, 13; Mohib Elimen, 11; Mordi Elimen, 9; Malaki Elimen, 4; and their mother, Kadija Sied, 35, according to Nuba Reports. The family's religious affiliation was not confirmed, but sources said the area is populated almost entirely by Christians.

"Our people are dying every day as result of aerial bombardment because they are Christians," a pastor said during a recent funeral for bombing victims.

A source who returned from three months in South Kordofan told Morning Star News he witnessed air strikes in Al Labu, Al Hibael, Al Atamur and Um Serdeba, areas hit with 20 bombs in two days in October.

Sudan dropped 15 bombs on Um Serdeba on Oct. 30, according to Nuba Reports, and also bombed Karkaia and Al Latmore villages. The attacks wounded a 9-year-old girl whose family is Christian, a source told Morning Star News.

These bombings in Um Dorain County also killed some cattle, according to Nuba Reports. With thousands of rebel fighters from the SPLA-N based in the Nuba Mountains, the Sudanese Armed Forces are bombing and setting fire to food and water supplies, besides blocking humanitarian aid, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Morning Star News said since military conflict began in June 2011, the Sudanese military has bombed Nuba churches, schools and farms, with most civilian deaths taking place where witnesses told HRW there was no evident military target or rebel soldier, according to the New York Review of Books.

The Review also reported on Aug. 16 the existence of a "secret document" outlining the Sudanese military's objective of occupying the Nuba Mountains.

According to Morning Star News, thousands of civilians have reportedly taken refuge in Nuba Mountain caves, with many sending their children on dangerous treks to refugee camps in South Sudan.

The Nuba people have longstanding complaints against Khartoum - including neglect, oppression and forced conversions to Islam in a 1990s jihad. However, as Sudanese citizens on the northern side of the border, they were never given the option of secession in the 2005 peace pact between northern and southern Sudan.