September 25, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) has claimed that aerial bombardment carried out by the Sudanese army in Blue Nile State has displaced half of the population there, urging international organizations to aid the victims.

According to the humanitarian relief secretary of the SPLM-N, Hashim Orta, the air forces of the “ruling National Congress Party [NCP]” were conducting more than six airstrikes on daily basis in the Blue Nile.

Orta said that half of the state’s population had fled due to aerial bombardments. He further urged international relief organizations to provide urgent assistance to those affected by the alleged blitz.

The SPLM-N official claimed that their forces were in control of 80 percent of the state and determined to “purge” the state of “the NCP’s militias.”

The UNHCR estimates that some 20,000 people have crossed from Blue Nile state into neighboring Ethiopia since the fighting started.

Similarly, the SPLM-N’s media secretary in South Kordofan State, Gamar Dalman, said that the “NCP’s air forces” on Sunday morning dropped 96 bombs on Kajama area of Aldo locality.

According to Dalman, SPLM-N forces were able to identify the types of bombs which were “Iran-made” He added that the bombs had destroyed farms and killed a large number of livestock.

Dalman said that “the Khartoum regime” had resorted to aerial bombardment on civilians because it failed to defeat ground forces.

SPLM-N forces have been fighting Sudan’s army (SAF) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since early June and September respectively.

Khartoum has vowed to crush the rebellion but appears to be encountering a great difficulty in doing so.

The SPLM-N’s secretary-general Yasir Arman this week urged U.S. congressmen to support the imposition of a no-fly zone over South Kordofan, Blue Nile and the western region of Darfur, the scene of a separate conflict between the Sudanese government and rebel groups accusing it of marginalizing the region.

(ST)