New images from extensive attacks on Abu Suruj, Darfur

In February 2008, the Sudanese government launched an invigorated offensive indiscriminately attacking civilian populations in West Darfur. Using Janjaweed militias and close air support, the attacks “resemble the kinds of campaigns that first captured the world’s attention and prompted the Bush administration to call the violence in Darfur genocide.”

The satellite images below, obtained by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), chronicle the destruction of three different villages in February. Particularly dramatic is the destruction of Abu Suruj. Note the small dark pixels around the market-like structures are people. Areas of Abu Suruj outlined in red were identified as burned.

This is not merely another picture. As Lydia Polgreen of the New York times describes, “Abu Sorouj was a bustling town of hundreds of mud-brick huts roofed with thatch, clumped together in sprawling family compounds… Today, it is an apocalyptic scene of ashy ruin.” Fadila Ahmed Mahamat, a grandmother who escaped the attack, reported, “Everything is gone…I have nothing.”

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Copyright DigitalGlobe 2008; Produced by AAAS

A fourth village in the area for which we do not have satellite images, Siraf Jidad, was similarly attacked three times in January. Collectively these attacks have displaced over 30,000 and killed at least 115 civilians, according to a UN report. These attacks are part of a military strategy to route elements of one rebel group, but according to the same UN report, they are also clear violations of international law, due to the indiscriminate and large-scale nature of the attacks, deliberate destruction of objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, and the use of rape and extensive pillaging by armed men in uniform.

You can explore more of Sudan and see exactly where the bombings took place using Google Earth. [NOTE: You need to download Google Earth on your computer for this application to work.]

Will you help?

To the left is Fatimah*, a Darfuri woman who lives in a Displaced Persons Camp in Darfur, and who is a beneficiary of GI-Net’s Civilian Protection Program. Thanks to contributions from individuals like you, GI-Net was able to purchase a small sewing machine shared by Fatimah and three other women, allowing her to make clothes to sell as a source of income for her family. With the cash she earns from sewing, Fatimah is able to purchase firewood in the camp market rather than having to gather it in the unprotected areas outside the camp. Women who do not have enough money to buy firewood in the camp market must leave the relative safety of the camps to search for it - sometime for 15 hours at a time - exposing them to rape and attack by roving Janjaweed and militiamen.

GI-Net’s Civilian Protection Program is the only program in Darfur that offers direct solutions to assist unprotected civilians. In the past 8 months, GI-Net provided 500 displaced Darfuri women with income-generating projects, such as sewing machines, chickens, and vegetable seeds, so that they could earn enough cash to stay out of the unsafe areas beyond the camp. It costs just $16.50 to purchase one pair of chickens - enough to increase a family’s income by 15%. Click here to learn about this and our other civilian protection projects.

Over the next six months, GI-Net will provide income-generating activities to 1,000 more families like Fatimah's. We will also expand our protection program to include additional strategies. We are building propane-powered kitchens in the camps so women have an alternative to using firewood when they can't afford it. We are also working on training and development with the United Nations African Mission in Darfur to ensure the mission has the tools it needs to effectively protect civilians. But we cannot do this without your generosity. Please help GI-Net protect civilians in Darfur by making a tax-deductible donation today.

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*Name changed to protect identity of project beneficiaries.