AFRICA: SUDAN: 60,000 FLEE BOMBING- WHERE IS INTERNATIONAL AID?

Fides Service REPORT - Fighting in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, on the border between north and south Sudan, between the northern and southern army continues. "On the Nuba Mountains, schools are closed and teachers have been evacuated" Sister Carmen, a Comboni missionary who works in Mexico says to Fides. The Nuba Mountains are part of South Kordofan. "Hospitals continue to operate. In one of these, run by the missionaries, 85 soldiers injured in Kadugli have been hospitalized. We need more staff to deal with the emergency", added the missionary.
"During the day the population flee to the hills surrounding the villages, and then in the evening they return home. At night there are no bombings, because the planes in Khartoum do not have night-sighting systems", said Sister Carmen, who has personally witnessed a bombing carried out by aircraft from Khartoum. "Two days ago while I was accompanying some people in the Kauda area- Sister Carmen said - I personally witnessed an air raid. I saw the fighter jet approaching fast and, after a reconnaissance, returned to low altitude to drop bombs and fire weapons. We threw ourselves on the floor while the bombs exploded, it was terrible".
Sister Carmen concludes by recalling that the question most frequently asked by the local people is: "But where is the international community?". According to a statement sent to Fides by Caritas Internationalis, more than 60,000 people have been forced to escape from the fighting in southern Kordofan, while the humanitarian situation is serious because of lack of food, water and medicine. (L.M.)

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