Khidir Abusita, the chief of Maiyas village, in Sudan's crisis-hit Blue Nile state, points to a bomb and the shrapnel that ripped through two "tukuls" (conical mud and thatch huts) on 2 October. That day, the Sudan Armed Forces’ Antonov bomber planes literally broke apart two families and left the village terrorized by their almost daily appearance. Abusita spoke to IRIN about the damage caused to his village:
“The Antonov came here at around midday [on 2 October]; it bombed the place, killing six people, including one child.
“Among the people who died were two pregnant women.
“In one of the affected families, three people died and three are remaining, so we took these three behind the mountain to hide. In this other family, two died and three are remaining.
"Another man who was just passing by to visit his neighbours was killed too. They were just farmers. His leg was cut and we tried to take him to hospital but he died.
"The other injured man is lying at Kurmuk hospital after the [bomb] cut his feet and stomach.
“Yesterday [1 October] there were two Antonovs around the area. They just circled overhead for one hour, so we are very scared.
“Most of the people have stayed here, but behind the mountains. We sleep near the river during the day and come back to the village at night.
“We just eat from these small, small farms; we just [grow food] near our houses because this year we haven’t been able to go to our farms in the valley to cultivate. Few bits of food remain, mostly only sorghum.
“We don't have sugar, we don’t have tea, we don’t have coffee. Also there is no medicine, people are just depending on the traditional medicine.
“There are 3,475 people in the village and no one has enough food. We don’t know what to do.
"We are sending a committee of people to Kurmuk to see the commissioner to try to find a solution to this problem for the people."
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“The Antonov came here at around midday [on 2 October]; it bombed the place, killing six people, including one child.
“Among the people who died were two pregnant women.
“In one of the affected families, three people died and three are remaining, so we took these three behind the mountain to hide. In this other family, two died and three are remaining.
"Another man who was just passing by to visit his neighbours was killed too. They were just farmers. His leg was cut and we tried to take him to hospital but he died.
"The other injured man is lying at Kurmuk hospital after the [bomb] cut his feet and stomach.
“Yesterday [1 October] there were two Antonovs around the area. They just circled overhead for one hour, so we are very scared.
“Most of the people have stayed here, but behind the mountains. We sleep near the river during the day and come back to the village at night.
“We just eat from these small, small farms; we just [grow food] near our houses because this year we haven’t been able to go to our farms in the valley to cultivate. Few bits of food remain, mostly only sorghum.
“We don't have sugar, we don’t have tea, we don’t have coffee. Also there is no medicine, people are just depending on the traditional medicine.
“There are 3,475 people in the village and no one has enough food. We don’t know what to do.
"We are sending a committee of people to Kurmuk to see the commissioner to try to find a solution to this problem for the people."
hm/js/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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