Story

Nuba Mountains: Sudan's Next Darfur?

May 21, 2012 | GlobalPost
By
Tristan McConnell, Nuba Mountains, Sudan

A child from Sudan's Nuba Mountains shows signs of severe malnutrition in a feeding center at the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Sudanese people who fled the Nuba Mountains line up to be registered at the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Sudanese families from Tess now live in caves after their town was destroyed by bombs dropped by the Sudan Armed Forces. They survive on leaves from trees and what little grains they have left. As much as 50 percent of the population has left for the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Familes from the town of Tess now living in caves survive on boiling leaves from trees and what little grains they have left. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Nubans pile onto the back of a truck heading towards Yida refugee camp in South Sudan. The numbers of Sudanese arriving at Yida is dramtically increasing each week, according to medics working at the camp. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

A girl holds her malnourished brother after hiking for days with her family to get to Yida camp for food and treatment. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Rebel fighters of the SPLA-North prepare for an attack on a garrison of the Sudan army in Talodi. The rebels say they have armed themselves with weapons they captured from the army in previous battles. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

Rebel fighters from SPLA-North move from the frontline near Talodi in Sudan's South Kordofan state. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

SPLA-North General Abdulaziz Adam Al-Hilu, who is working to unite his rebels with other Sudanese rebel groups fighting against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's government. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

New SPLA-North trainees march during drills at their camp in the Nuba Mountains. Image by Trevor Snapp. Sudan, 2012.

From the place on a hilltop that Ibrahim Nahar now calls home there is a commanding view of the tree-dotted savannah stretching into the distance and of the skies above. Every few minutes his eyes dart upwards, warily searching for the ghostly shimmer of an aircraft.

Next to his rough wooden bed beneath a makeshift grass-roofed shelter a solitary pig, a few goats and a skinny chicken take turns scratching in the dirt for scraps. Tangles of clothes hang from the rafters, and nearby some of his dozen children peek out from the dark gaps and caves between huge boulders.

In his cracked and weathered hands Nahar cradles an AK-47, its stock worn smooth over the years, but it is of no use against the airplanes he fears.

Since June, daily sorties by bombers and jet fighters have rained down fire and death on the people of the Nuba Mountains, forcing Nahar and thousands of others to leave their homes for the rocky hills, where countless crevices and caves offer some protection from the bombings.

The people of South Kordofan, the Sudan province where the Nuba Mountains are located, fought alongside southern rebels during a 22-year civil war and are now, once again, battling for their survival against the regime of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.

“I am scared of the Antonov [bombers], of the MiGs and the artillery shelling, of the long-range missiles, of the random bombardments that come at any time,” said Nahar.

Continue reading this story on GlobalPost.

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This is an excerpt from Tristan McConnell's four-part series for GlobalPost. Click on the links below to read specific stories.

  1. South Kordofan: Sudan’s latest humanitarian hotspot
    Since June, daily bombings have rained down fire and death on the people of the Nuba Mountains, forcing thousands to leave their homes for the rocky hills, where countless crevices and caves offer some protection. Unable to plant crops in their fields, the civilians South Kordofan are now going hungry.
  2. Thousands flee to a new refugee camp in South Sudan
    The Yida camp is growing quickly as Khartoum bombs Nuban civilians and deploys hunger as a weapon. Meanwhile, the international community shrugs.
  3. Sudan’s rebels uniting to topple Bashir’s Islamic rule
    Deep in South Kordofan, GlobalPost visits the unified opposition’s military commander, who vows to install “liberal values.”
  4. Ragtag rebels vow to take South Kordofan
    But Sudan’s air power means Nuba Mountains will continue to be pounded.