Bombing campaign targets the Beja

The opposition Beja Congress has accused the government of Sudan of bombing villages in eastern Sudan, and wounding civilians. Leader of the Beja Congress, Sheik Omar Tahir, told the London-based ‘Al-Hayat’ newspaper that the Khartoum government had targeted Hamashkoreb, northeast of Kassala town, in “continuous aerial bombardments”. He said that the government had bombed Koranic schools and Rashai, in the same region. According to Tahir, whose organisation comes under the armed opposition umbrella National Democratic Alliance (NDA), there was photographic evidence to back up his claims. Hamashkoreb had become a “military target”, said Tahir. Government soldiers on patrol in the town had also opened fire on seven civilians, wounding three of them seriously, ‘Al-Hayat’ said.

The leader of the Beja Congress said in the interview that the government was trying to “exterminate” the Beja people of eastern Sudan “on the pretext that they were supporting the NDA forces”. He said his forces would not lay down arms until they had achieved their “legitimate rights”. The oil pipeline would remain a target for Beja military operations as the government was using oil revenue to support its war effort, Tahir said.