Nairobi - A rare video shot by a soldier in a unit nicknamed the "match
battalion" shows Sudanese troops burning a village in southern Sudan last
year.
The 5-minute cellphone video shows bright orange flames burning through a stick-hut
village. One soldier carries a flaming torch as the sound of gunfire cracks in
the background.
The video was shared by Ryan Boyette, an American who lives in Southern
Kordofan, a state in Sudan where rebel fighters often associated with South
Sudan are battling troops from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The video was found on the body of a dead Sudanese soldier, Boyette said. He
estimates that the burning of the village - Umbartumbo, in Southern Kordofan -
took place last August.
Boyette said on Monday that SAF forces usually burn villages that it
occupies in areas controlled by rebel fighters known by the initials SPLA-N, or
Sudan People's Liberation Army-North. The SPLA - without the "N'' for
North - is a former rebel movement that is now the legitimate army of the
separate nation of South Sudan.
Burning frequently
In the cell phone video, gray smoke hangs over the village. The apparent
owner of the cell phone poses in front of the camera multiple times. The
commander of the troops gives orders in Sudanese Arabic.
"Matches, where are the matches? Burn this house," the commander
says, according to translation provided by Boyette, who helps run www.NubaReports.org - a
newsgathering website.
Boyette said that Sudanese troops frequently burn villages. The most recent
burning, he said, occurred on 20 May in the village of Angolo.
Fighting between Sudanese and SPLA-N forces began one year ago. The violence
has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing for safety. Aid groups have
pleaded with Sudan to allow them to operate in Southern Kordofan to help those
in need but Sudan continues to ban them from operating.
The fighting is part of the web of violence across the Sudan and South Sudan
border. South Sudan broke away from Sudan last July after a peaceful vote. That
referendum was the result of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of fighting
between the two Sudans. Despite that accord and last year's peaceful split,
violence still hangs over the border region.
AP
