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Struggle for survival in the Nuba Mountains

29 images Created 9 Feb 2016

Since the war resumed in June 2011, after a failed attempt by Khartoum to disarm the population of South Kordofan, bombing raids by Sudanese army warplanes are a daily occurrence in the Nuba Mountains. A continuous attack that have since claimed thousands of lives and a unaccountable number of injured among civilians. Entire villages have been destroyed and the people, largely dependent on farming, are unable to cultivate their land. Most have been forced to seek refuge in caves and rocky shelters in the hills, surviving on a diet of leaves, wild fruits and insects as Khartoum does not authorise aid agencies to operate in the affected areas. A plight that forced thousands of others to flee to the troubled neighbouring nation of South Sudan. Ahmed Tia, the commissioner of Buram county, accuses the government of using hunger as a weapon. “Since the war started, the people have been terrified. They are living in caves. There’s no way to grow anything or graze our cattle. There’s nothing left here,” he says. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), the Nuban historical group ally of South Sudan's former rebel forces, says the Sudanese army, through its aerial bombardment, is trying also to prevent people from growing crops from which profits could be used to support the insurgency that has fanned out across the restive states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. A tactic also used a decade ago in Darfur. People here fear what comes from the sky. The army is using Antonov aircraft loaded with bombs, Sukhoi attack jets and helicopter gunships. Children have grown to recognise the roaring sound of the engines overhead, and “Antonov” has became part of their vocabulary. As soon as the sound is audible in the distance, villagers panic and run to shelter in caves dotted throughout the nearby hillsides. Because so many of their relatives and neighbours have died or been seriously injured, the people feel they cannot take any chances. In a rebel base across the mountains, other rebel fighters display weapons newly captured from the government forces. Iranian anti-personnel land mines, Chinese rockets and cluster bombs and Greek-made mortar bombs are among the contents of a pile of boxes camouflaged under some trees. Capitan Abdula Jumlah, commander of Jebel Kwo base, near the village of Tess, declares that “the world needs to see what weapons Khartoum is using and where they are getting them”. He accuses Iran and China of being the main suppliers to the regime of President al-Bashir, which then uses them against the civilian population of the region. Equipped mainly with weapons and ammunition capture from the enemy and using a guerrilla style combat, the rebels have struggled to secure control of the province. According to their commander in chief and political leader of the Nuba people, Dr. Abdalaziz Alhilu, the SPLM-N in coordinance with other rebel groups in Sudan, will be able to oust Bashir in a near future.

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  • A group of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters look at weapons and ammunition captured from Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) during recent combats in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters take defensive positions in Jebel Kwo military base, ahead of an attack on Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) positions near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • A field commander of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) walks by in Jebel Kwo military base near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan. SPLA-North, an historical ally of South Sudan's former rebel forces SPLA, has been fighting the Sudanese Army Forces (SAF) over the right to autonomy and of the end of persecution of Nuba people by the regime of President Bashir.
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  • A group of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters relax outside Jebel Kwo military base near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • Nuba women take cover from possible bombardments by Sudan's Army Forces airplane in some caves near Buram village.
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  • A Nuba family takes cover, from possible bombardments by Sudan's Army Forces airplane, in some caves near Buram village.
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  • Detail view of the burned back of a Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel soldier being treated at an hospital in Gidel village. The fighter was severely wounded as a result of a bomb dropped by the Sudanese airforce in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • A mother carrying a baby rests under the shade of a tree before continue the three to four day journey to a refugee camp in the neighbour South Sudan.Thousands have fled the bombardments and hunger in South Kordofan.
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  • A local resident shows the food available for the whole family at their improvised home in the caves outside Buram village in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains.
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  • A Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighter prepares his weapons for an attack on Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) positions near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • A SPLA-North fighter takes guard near some temporary shelters in caves outside Buram village in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains.
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  • A group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) new recruits line for training in a improvised military base near the frontline in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • Nuba children take cover from possible bombardments by Sudan's Army Forces airplane, in a cave outside Buram village.
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  • A Nuba woman takes cover, from possible bombardments by Sudan's Army Forces airplane, in some caves near Buram village.
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  • A group of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters relax outside Jebel Kwo military base near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • A Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters handles an anti-aerial weapon as the group take defensive position in Jebel Kwo military base, ahead of an attack on Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) positions near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
    NubaMountains_19.jpg
  • Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters take defensive positions in Jebel Kwo military base, ahead of an attack on Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) positions near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • Personal belongings of a Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighter, are seen near a tree in Jebel Kwo military base near Tess village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.
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  • A Nuba woman passes by carrying a pot of food in the mountains outside Buram village in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains.
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  • A Nuba family seats under the shade of a tree near their improvised home in the mountains outside Buram village in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains.
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  • A local resident shows the food available for the whole family at their improvised home in the caves outside Buram village in South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains.
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  • A Nuba family rests under the shade of a tree before continue the three to four day journey to a refugee camp in the neighbour South Sudan. Thousands of people have fled the war and hunger in South Kordofan.
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  • Children stand outside a cave used as shelter against bombardments by Sudan's Army Forces airplanes near the Nuba village of Tess in South Kordofan.
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  • May 01, 2012 - Kauda, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan: Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel fighters fixe a war tank captured from Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) during recent combats in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan. <br />
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SPLA-North, a historical ally of SPLA, South Sudan's former rebel forces, has since last June being fighting the Sudanese Army Forces (SAF) over the right to autonomy and of the end of persecution of Nuba people by the regime of President Bashir. (Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Polaris)
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  • Local women walk along a road near the Nuba village of Tess in South Kordofan.
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Paulo Nunes dos Santos

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