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SUDAN: Charity head says "Stop killing in South Kordofan"
By John Newton
Neville Kyrke-Smith, UK director of Aid to the Church in Need, who called for immediate international action over South Kordofan in Sudan
The UK director of Aid to the Church in Need has called for urgent action following reports that thousands of civilians in Sudan are coming under fire in attacks that have also targeted churches.
Neville Kyrke-Smith has called for an immediate international response after reports from South Kordofan of increased fighting and heavy bombing of the civilian population.
According to UN figures, more than 70,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the fighting and tens of thousands of civilians are hiding in the Nuba Mountains following bombing runs by fighter jets over South Kordofan – most recently last Monday (11th July).
A report compiled by the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan showed how churches have been targeted and other sources indicate that Christian bookshops have been torched as part of a military campaign led by armed forces under Sudan's government in Khartoum.
Mr Kyrke-Smith said: "We are also concerned by reports that the Nuba people in South Kordofan are being targeted as part of a sustained campaign by the army of Sudan.
"Any attacks at this sensitive time will undermine the fragile peace and we are concerned for all those who are being targeted in these appalling attacks.
"A significant number of the Nuba are Christians and these specific attacks on churches will be felt by Christian communities across both Sudan and the new South Sudan."
His comments follow questions raised in the UK Parliament last week by Lord Alton of Liverpool about what steps the British government is taking to ensure protection and humanitarian assistance for individuals caught up in fighting in the disputed border regions.
Mr Kyrke-Smith said: "The bombing of civilians by Khartoum is reminiscent of what the south of Sudan had to endure during the bitter civil war."
During the 21-year civil war which ended in 2005, more than 2.5 million people were killed and millions more fled their homes.
Mr Kyrke-Smith continued: "What we fear we are witnessing is a return to a conflict which we hoped was history – when Christians and other religious minorities were targeted by the Islamist government of the north during the terrible civil war.
"It is vital that the international community brings all sides to the negotiating table as soon as possible to broker a lasting peace."
As well as aerial attacks and churches being targeted, the UN report described arbitrary arrests, abductions and house-to-house searches.
The number of those killed is still unclear but according to the UN as many as 3,000 people may have been killed.
One human rights group has claimed that mass graves have been dug in Kadugli to bury more than 100 people.
The report came from the US-based Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery analysis and field reports to monitor the situation in the country to deter the resumption of war.
Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need earlier this month, Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok of Khartoum warned of the increased threat of conflict spreading from disputed regions close to South Sudan's border with the north, including the Blue Nile state and oil-rich Abyei.
Bishop Adwok said: "I do not think the South will stand idle if it sees its former allies experiencing fatalities and other forms of suffering."
Advocating dialogue aimed at early conflict resolution, he said: "These are big issues. If the Government of South Sudan does not sit down to address the issues raised by the militia groups, it could become a nightmare with no stability for the South."
Referring to politicians in Khartoum, he said: "There is a recognition that change has finally come to South Sudan but they are in a defiant mood."
"Many see South Sudan becoming independent as a kind of liberation, meaning that Khartoum is now able to what it wants and can pursue its own agenda without having to take into account the very different needs of the south."