The attacks on the village of Abu Suruj and its neighbors Sirba and Silea on February 8th were a return to the brutal tactics of the Sudanese government that characterized the height of violence in 2004 and 2005.

In Abu Suruj, a village of more than 18,000 people, it began early in the morning, on market day.  Around 8:00AM government attack helicopters were seen buzzing overhead, along with a Russian-made Antonov aircraft.  A half hour later, as if on cue, government soldiers and Janjaweed arrived in trucks and on camels and began shooting everyone in sight, burning homes and carrying loot back to their vehicles.  In these three villages at least 115 people were killed and 30,000 displaced by the attacks.

Satellite photos commissioned by the American Association for the Advancement of Science vividly show the destruction and extent of the burning of homes in all three villages.  See for yourself the aftermath of the attacks on Abu Suruj, Silea and Sirba.

The Sudanese government claims that they were only trying to deal with rebels and bandits in the area (in this case, the Justice and Equality Movement).  They deny, as always, that civilians were targeted.

But United Nations investigators who interviewed survivors of the attacks tell a different story:

During the attack [on Abu Suruj] at least 30 persons were reportedly killed, including one woman, one mentally disabled man, ten elderly people, among them a 75-year-old blind woman who was burned alive inside her house, and three children, three, eight and sixteen years old.

The eight-year-old was a disabled girl who could not walk and therefore succumbed to the flames inside her house.  United Nations report, March 20th

The report, from the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, states in no uncertain terms that the level of destruction “suggests that the damage was a deliberate and integral part of a military strategy.” It also accuses Sudanese soldiers of large scale sexual violence against girls and women during the attacks.  A Sudanese spokesman blasted the report, calling it baseless, and asserted that Sudanese soldiers “have never attacked its people.”

A joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force is finally being rolled out in Darfur.  But with the Khartoum government doing everything in its power to hamper the effort and a crippling lack of international support and equipment (the New York Times reports that some soldiers have even had to buy their own paint to turn their green helmets UN blue), many feel it is too little, too late; they worry it may not be enough to turn back the tide of violence.

Many of the newly displaced – and hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Darfur over the past 4 years of violence – are beyond the reach of the UN and humanitarian agencies; not only because of government interference, but because the rebel groups themselves hijack vehicles and harass civilians and aid workers alike.  There are no angels in Darfur- both the Sudanese army and rebels like the Justice and Equality Movement are keeping the embers of war smoldering.

Posted By: Michael Graham | May 14, 2008 | Comments (0)