Birth and Death in Sudan

2 minute read

In Sudan, birth can sometimes seem merely more opportunity for death. Africa’s largest country splits in two on July 9, forming a new, smaller north Sudan and a wholly new South Sudan. But rather than finally bringing an end to more than 50 years of fighting, the split is throwing up a whole new set of conflicts – inside both north and south.

Last week, photographer Cédric Gerbehaye and two TIME correspondents managed to slip illegally into the Nuba Mountains in north Sudan where the bloodiest of these new wars is raging. The Nuba, who are ethnic Africans, fought with the African south against the Arab north during two decades of war. But come July 9 their state of South Kordofan will remain part of the north, rather than seceding with the south.

In early June, fighting broke out between Nuba fighters from the main southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, and northern soldiers and police after northern security services started going house to house in the capital of South Kordofan, Kadugli, dragging rebel supporters into the streets and executing them. The rebels, who had been preparing for a new war, captured significant territory.

TIME’s reporting suggests the Khartoum regime responded to that advance with the same tactics it used in Darfur: indiscriminate and targeted aerial bombardment of civilians. Those actions earned several Sudanese commanders, including President Omar al-Bashir indictments for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The ICC prosecutor has noted the similarity of the new allegations to those that warranted charges in Darfur.

In 2010, Cédric Gerbehaye’s photographs of Sudan’s Dinka tribe appeared in TIME.

A civilian wounded after her village was bombed by northern Sudanese aircraft rests inside a hospital in the Nuba Mountains, July 2, 2011.Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Abdellah Kuma tends to his daughter Orchelim, whose right arm was amputated after her home in Al Buram was bombed by Sudanese Armed Forces while she was preparing breakfast for her family. Orchelim sought treatment in a hospital in the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan, July 1, 2011. Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Morcilla Dimas, 8, suffered burns and lacerations to her feet and arms after the Sudanese Air Force dropped five 45-gal. barrels of oil attached to explosives in the village of Kurchi. Twelve people, including Morcilla's two sisters, were killed in the attack. Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
A nurse prepares for the amputation of a rebel soldier's foot after he was wounded during battles with northern Sudanese military in Kurchi, July 1, 2011. Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Mouktar Bakri was wounded after his home in Kauda was bombarded by northern Sudanese aircraft. Mouktar sought treatment at the hospital in the Nuba Mountains, July 2, 2011. Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Abu Sadur Jibril, an elementary school teacher in Tangal, rests inside the hospital in the Nuba Mountains, July 2, 2011. Jibril was wounded after his home in Kauda was bombarded by northern Sudanese aircraft.Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Wounded Nuba soldiers arrive at the hospital after a battle in Kurchi, July 1, 2011.Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
A Nuba victim of bombardment rests after an amputation, July 2, 2011.Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Families seek refuge from northern Sudanese bombardments in the Nuba Mountains, July 2, 2011.Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME
Nuba villagers hide in caves from northern bombers, July 2, 2011. "The only good thing about peace was that it gave us time to prepare for more war," says Montasir Kalo, from a Nuba aid group in Kauda. "We have this one choice: to be or not to be."Cédric Gerbehaye—Agence VU for TIME

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