Two weeks after Khartoum’s tanks, artillery, and military aircraft began moving into South Kordofan, violence—especially against civilians—continues to explode. There are now scores of reliable reports that attacks against the indigenous Nuba people have accelerated, both on the ground and from the air. Humanitarian conditions are deteriorating rapidly, aid workers are fleeing the region, essential relief supplies have been looted in the regional capital of Kadugli, and the U.N. World Food Program has indicated that the violence could prevent it from reaching the 400,000 people it was serving before the recent onslaught. There are no verified estimates of the number displaced, but Abdel Aziz el-Hilu, former governor of South Kordofan, has put the number at almost half a million. Dozens have been reported killed, but in the absence of any effective UN or humanitarian monitoring this surely understates significantly. For its part, Khartoum has ominously promised to continue fighting. Troops and military vehicles are still pouring into Kadugli….
[ complete text at http://www.tnr.com/article/world/90243/kordofan-sudan-refugees-united-nations-obama ]