New revelations about the cellular phone video obtained from the pockets of a slain Popular Defense Force (PDF) soldier strongly suggest it was the Sudan Forces who set fire to the village of Um Bartumbu in the late months of 2011.

Um Bartumbu is a small community of about 50 homesteads in Southern Kordofan, Sudan. The village contained a church and a mosque, emblems of the peaceful cohabitation of Christians and Muslims there. The PDF burned homes and the grinding mill. The church and village clinic were looted of goods and valuable zinc roof tiles. “We ran away when we heard the sound of guns,” says Halima, a village resident. “When we came back we found nothing. My house has nothing, it was totally burned.”

This is believed to be not just an ethnically motivated attack against the Nuba people, but also a politically strategic message to the villagers, all of whom supported the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in the last election. Efil, a village elder contends that “the government of Bashir came here and burned it… This was the government of the North, no accusation to any other party.” The members of this community are currently displaced due to the attack. Most seek refuge now in Kowalib and Lira regions of Southern Kordofan. Both are regions controlled by the SPLA-N.

The PDF has frequently been accused of burning villages as a military tactic- referred to as The Match Battalion. But until now, there has been little to no proof. Eyes and Ears Nuba spoke with Gisma, the soldier for the SPLM-N who obtained the cell phone footage. She confirmed the identity of Mahdi Ali Mahdi, a PDF soldier loyal to the National Congress Party (NCP). They are from the same SAF controlled village, El Feit. The slain soldier who carried the video was a member of the PDF and the footage exposes men in Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and PDF uniforms setting fire to a village. Images from the Satellite Sentinel Project taken before and after the attack corroborate the report.

This evidence brings to light the violent consequences for the communities of Sudan, like the village of Um Bartumbu, that oppose the ruling National Congress Party. Others should see the videos “with their eyes and hear them with their ears,” Gisma says, “so that we can rid Sudan of anything called National Congress Party.” She goes on to affirm that despite the violence “…we will be here. Whether they want us or not we will be in their hearts and in their eyes.”

For more on this: The Match Battalion