Sudan: US Accuses Bashir of Bombing Civilians in Blue Nile and South Kordofan
By Staff Writer
The United States of America has accused President Omar El-Bashir’s government of intensifying attacks on civilians in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states
American ambassador to UN, Ms Samantha Power condemned the attacks in which she said schools and hospital had been deliberately targeted.
Power said since April 2014 Sudanese aircraft had dropped hundreds of bombs on towns and villages displacing more than a million people as fighting between government forces and rebels intensified.
Sudanese ambassador to the UN did not respond to the comments.
Early this week aid agencies wrote to UN Security Council, African Union (AU) and the Arab League demanding an end to attacks on civilians by the Bashir’s government.
She condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the Sudanese government's offensive in the region.
Since April, air and ground attacks have intensified targeting mainly civilian aid workers, which if confirmed would seriously violate international law, Power said.
Ethnic minority rebels in the area have been fighting government forces for three years in a war that the United Nations says has affected more than one million people.
The unrest has been fuelled by grievances among non-Arab groups over what they see as neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
Power compared the government's tactics with those used in the war-torn western region of Darfur, where more than 300,000 people have been displaced so far this year alone, she said.
Radio Dabanga UNICEF Representative in Sudan raised concerns on May 12, 2014 warning that an entire generation in Darfur may be lost as a result of more than ten years of violence in the region.
“Life in the camps might produce a new generation without ambition,” the UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Geert Cappelaere, said in a press statement on May 11. “In particular as about 60% of the displaced in Darfur are minors.”
"The US calls on all armed groups in Sudan to cease all violence against civilians and comply with international law," she said.