Zouhal Iead, "I go to Ethiopia to sleep then come back to Kurmuk"

Zouhal Iead, 17, fled an aerial bombardment of her village of Bouk in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, after war broke out there in early September between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North. IRIN caught up with Iead at Kurmuk hospital, where she was recently treated for shrapnel wounds. The hospital is in Kurmuk town, near the Ethiopian border and 90km from Bouk.



"One month ago, the Antonov [plane] came and bombed us. We feel OK now as the soldiers came and took us to hospital. My husband is a commander here.



“That day, the Antonov came three times - in the morning twice and then at sundown. We ran from the house to the mountains to hide. We were so afraid that the Antonov would come and kill us all, but no one died.



“Because I am scared of the bombs, I go to Ethiopia to sleep and then come back to Kurmuk to get food each day for the children.



"My husband is not here. He’s on the front line. He told me to take the children and go with them to Ethiopia. He said to go to a camp there but there are many refugees there and it is too far, so I just walk from here 10 minutes over the border and sleep there.



“In the night, I dream the Antonov will bomb my husband. Sometimes I dream that he will come here and find me. My baby is only 18 months old."



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