Bombings in the south “regular throughout 2000”

Sudanese government planes bombed civilian and humanitarian targets in southern and central Sudan 152 times last year, according to the US Committee for Refugees (USCR). Last year’s bombings meant that aerial attacks occurred on average nearly three times a week during 2000, the USCR stated. Executive Director Roger Winter visited southern Sudan in January, where he investigated a new bombing site in the Bahr al-Ghazal area and spoke to civilian survivors. “The Sudanese government’s objective seems to be to push people from their homes in preparation for a large new military offensive, and to depopulate areas to begin exploitation of expanded oilfields,” Winter said in the report.

The USCR statement, released on Monday in Washington DC, USA, said there were eight confirmed attacks on civilian and humanitarian targets in the first three weeks of this year. It accused the government of using larger, more powerful bombs and helicopter gunships in some of its most recent attacks. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that there was concern over significant population displacement due to a “major military offensive by the government in the south”.