Militia attacks in South Kordofan last week included the deliberate razing of a village, according to analysis in the latest Satellite Sentinel Project report. The images demonstrate the destruction of more than 350 structures in the el-Feid village in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, a heavily militarized Sudanese border state that is weeks away from holding elections.
Following the incident, leading candidate for the state governor’s post Abdelaziz al-Hilu accused fellow candidate and incumbent governor Ahmed Haroun of instigating the violence to prevent the vote from taking place. He said the militias, known as the Popular Defense Forces, killed over 20 people. Hilu is the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM, candidate for South Kordofan state governor; Haroun is the rival National Congress Party, or NCP, candidate and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.
Hilu also alleged that militias attacked a second locale called Um Barmbita. In today’s report, Satellite Sentinel Project says that satellite images indicate that the area was also burned, but no visible structures appear to have been destroyed.
Both the U.N. and South Kordofan state authorities have said they would investigate the incident.
Learn more about the attack in “The Razing: Intentional Burning Confirmed at el-Feid, Nuba Mountains” and view the full set of satellite images on the Enough Project's Flickr page.