News

KHARTOUM — Civilians were among the victims of ongoing air strikes in Sudan's border state of South Kordofan, where the army is battling militia aligned to the soon to be independent south, the UN reported on Sunday.

Sporadic air strikes and shelling have been taken place since Wednesday in the eastern and southern parts of South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains, home to Sudan's indigenous non-Arab Nuba, the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said in its latest report.

"According to partners on the ground, one woman was killed and four others, including two children, were wounded in an aerial attack on Kauda on June 22," OCHA said.

It added that several rockets landed near the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMIS) team site on Friday.

Heavy fighting in north Sudan's ethnically divided border state, which first erupted three weeks ago, has threatened to torpedo a 2005 peace deal that is set to deliver independence for the south on July 9.

The United States and the United Nations have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the troubled border region and the safe passage of humanitarian assistance for the more than 70,000 people displaced by the conflict.

The security situation in South Kordofan state capital Kadugli, which saw some of the heaviest fighting when the conflict broke out, has significantly improved, according to various sources, with the town's population returning slow... >>>