US accuses Sudan of bombing hospitals and schools

The US has accused Sudan of bombing hospitals and schools in an intensifying military campaign against its own people in a largely hidden war.

Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, condemned "in the strongest possible terms" bombardments of civilians she claimed were being carried out by the Sudanese government and its rapid support forces.

“Since April, not only have ground attacks on, and the shelling of, civilian populations increased, but the government of Sudan has intensified its air campaign, dropping hundreds of barrel bombs and other ordnance on Sudanese towns and villages, deliberately targeting hospitals and schools,” she said.

Forces loyal to President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the international criminal court on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, have been fighting ethnic-minority rebels for three years in a conflict said by the UN to have affected more than a million people. The government has denied aid access to the embattled states of South Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile.

Power said the US was disturbed by reports of air strikes against civilian aid workers which, if proven, would seriously violate international law.

Aid groups working in Sudan had accused the military of looting and destroying food and water supplies in areas recaptured by rebels, she added.

“The uptick in violence in South Kordofan and Blue Nile has displaced or severely affected approximately 1.2 million people; it has increased the population’s vulnerability to disease and malnutrition; and it has disrupted planting cycles, which will only compound food insecurity in the regions.”

– (Guardian service)