A U.S. monitoring group said Friday that new satellite imagery appears to show what it called a "massive" military march toward a rebel stronghold in a contested region near South Sudan.
The Satellite Sentinel Project said the images show heavily camouflaged military equipment and several thousand troops moving south toward the rebel stronghold of Kurmuk in Blue Nile state. The group said the force appears to be equipped with tanks, artillery and infantry fighting vehicles.
"Since May, the government of Sudan has used indiscriminate and disproportionate force, including campaigns to bombard civilians, in the three border areas of Abyei, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile State," said Enough Project Executive Director John C. Bradshaw. "This irrefutable, visual evidence of massive military operations in Blue Nile State provides a human security warning to civilians in Kurmuk and the surrounding area."
South Sudan, a region of black tribesmen, officially broke away from the mostly Arab north Sudan in July. But residents in the three border areas who are aligned tribally and politically with the south have seen military attacks from Sudan, according to human rights groups.
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By: Brant
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