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Satellite Images Show Build-up of Northern Forces in Sudanâs Abyei Region

   Joe DeCapua  March 23, 2011
   A 2009 aerial shot of Abyei town, south Sudan (File)

Photo: AFP

   A 2009 aerial shot of Abyei town, south Sudan (File)

   New  satellite  images  of  Sudanâs  Abyei  region  reportedly  show a
   build-up of forces backed by Khartoum government.

   Abyei, along with its oil reserves, remains a contested region between
   the north and the soon-to-be-independent South Sudan.

   Nathaniel  Raymond, director of operations at the Harvard Humanitarian
   Initiative  for  the  Satellite  Sentinel  Project,  says, âThe latest
   imagery  collected by DigitalGlobe satellitesâ¦shows three encampments
   inside  the  Abyei  region, which corroborate reports of approximately
   1500 northern police backed by the government of Sudan moving into the
   Abyei region over the past few days.â

   The encampments are located near Bongo, Goli and Diffra.
   âNow, I want to be clear that we have seen activity at those positions
   before.  What  we  are seeing is a severe spike in the amount of tents
   present  at  those  positions consistent with reports that troops have
   moved into Abyei,â he says.

   Any southern military response?

   âAt this point,â he says, âwe have collected and released imagery just
   specific  to  the north in this incident. But what we are doing now is
   basically  tracking whether there is a corroborative and corresponding
   response from southern-aligned forces,â he says.

   A report released two weeks ago by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
   said  southern  forces were moving into Todach and Tajalei, which were
   burned  in  the  past  month,  allegedly by Missiriya militia. Another
   village, Maker Abior, was also burned.

   âWeâre  going  to  continue  to  monitor those points and look for any
   potential or corresponding buildup,â he says.

   The  Comprehensive  Peace  Agreement  bans military forces from Abyei.
   Now,  the  satellite  images  show a jockeying of forces into opposing
   positions.

   âItâs a very dangerous situation,â he says. âWe now have a potentially
   deadly  game  of  chess occurring, where forcesâ¦not supposed to be in
   this  contested  region are moving in facing one another and following
   each otherâs move.â

   Growing tensions before independence

   The movement of military forces in and around Abyei comes as the south
   is  preparing to officially declare its independence from the north in
   July. Southern voters approved succession in a January referendum.

   âSince  the succession referendum,â says Raymond, âweâve seen a series
   of skirmishes in the contested region in Abyei, which was an issue not
   resolved  by  the  referendum.  But  weâve  also  seen  militia groups
   skirmishing in the south with the Sudanâs Peoplesâ Liberation Army. So
   basically weâve seen a spike since the referendum.â

   âThatâs  why  this  project  is  important  â to deter violence on the
   ground before the succession,â he says.

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