84 killed in strikes in Blue Nile state

On Tuesday, air strikes and heavy artillery were reported in Bao locality, Blue Nile state, killing 84 residents including 24 children, said Hashim Orta, humanitarian relief secretary of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) for Blue Nile. Orta said the aerial bombardment targeted gatherings of innocent civilians resulting in the massacre. He asked for the United Nations Security Council and the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese government to open safe corridors to enable humanitarian organizations to provide aid and protect those displaced. Hashim Orta accused the government of continuing ‘the systematically organized genocide of the people of Blue Nile’. He also accused government affiliated militias of continuing to burn down villages and kill civilians in the area. The spokesman of the SPLM of Blue Nile State, Suleiman Osman Hamid responded to yesterday’s attacks in Bao by accusing the government of destroying agricultural projects and poisoning water wells in the region. He called for international organizations to visit these areas to verify what is happening.