19/6/11 - 64 dead, 60,000 displaced as Sudan's Bashir orders air attacks on South

CAIRO — Sudan has renewed air strikes against the southern region.


The regime of Sudanese President Omar Bashir has ordered the air force to bomb targets in the Southern Kordofan and other areas of the soon-to-be separate south. Khartoum was said to have employed a range of air assets, including the Russian-origin MiG-29 and the An-26 air transport.
"Local sources in the state indicate that 64 people have been killed in aerial bombardments since fighting broke out," the United Nations said.



In a report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Sudanese air strikes have sparked the flight of 60,000 people from Southern Kordofan. The UN said Khartoum's air operations were hampering humanitarian aid in the oil-producing state.

"There is a growing sense of panic among some of the displaced populations who find themselves trapped by the ongoing violence and the ethnic fault lines," the report said. "Reports of sectarian violence against civilians targeting members of the different ethnic groups as well as widespread looting of property are inhibiting returns to villages and towns of origin, even after the fighting has ceased."

Southern Sudan, scheduled to formally secede from Khartoum on July 9, reported the downing of at least two Sudanese Air Force airplanes. On June 14, two Sudanese fighter-jets dropped 11 bombs around Kadugli and in the Nuba Mountains.