February 3, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, has strongly condemned the bombing of a school in Sudan’s southern region of South Kordofan by the country’s military.

Photo of the school building destroyed by Sudan army bombing in South Kordofan (Ryan Boyette)

Air forces of Sudan’s army on Wednesday dropped eight bombs on Heiban town in South Kordofan, destroying a school and causing its teachers and students to run for their lives.

The bombardment of the school, built by an American NGO two years ago, was reported to the media by Ryan Boyette, an American journalist present in the area. He reported that no one was harmed in the bombing but recorded testimonies recounting the events.

One of the school teachers, Zachariah Boulus, said that everyone laid down when the bomb fell and that his family ran for safety up the mountains.

In a statement on Friday, Ambassador Rice condemned the attack, saying it “underscores the viciousness of Sudan’s ongoing military campaign in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states."

Sudan’s army has been fighting rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLMN) in South Kordofan as of June and Blue Nile as of early September last year.

Rebels in the two states fought as part of South Sudan’s army before the latter gained independence in July last year.

Sudan is adamantly opposed to allowing international aid groups to access SPLMN controlled areas, accusing those calling for humanitarian intervention of seeking to feed the rebels.

Violence in the two states has already forced about 417,000 people to flee their homes, more than 80,000 of them to South Sudan, the United Nations estimates.

Locals in the two states have been subjected to indiscriminate air raids and sporadic ground fighting since the conflict began, according to human rights groups and refugees.

(ST)