JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (Catholic Online) - Sudan has been accused of staging a campaign to kill civilians alongside separatist fighters in South Kordofan. Khartoum says that many people in the region are aligned with South Sudan, a newly-formed country that split from Sudan just last year. South Sudan has a large Christian population while Sudan is predominately Islamic. 

The government blames the people for participating in a month-long fight that it says is intended to break the province free of Khartoum. 

Meanwhile, United Nations officials accuse the Sudanese government of blocking the deliveries of food and aid to the people, creating a serious risk of famine. Khartoum is also being accused of attempting to drive people from their native lands in a campaign that borders on genocide. 

As villagers flee into the countryside, and take refuge in the mountains, aircraft level buildings and troops burn houses. Crops and stores of food are also being systematically destroyed. 

Despite the unmistakable evidence that the Sudanese army is attacking civilians, the government is denying allegations that it is leading the campaign. Rabie Abdul Atti, adviser to Sudan's information minister, has publicly denied reports that the Sudanese army was attacking civilians. Instead, he placed the blame on separatist fighters. 

He said, "This is actually our jurisdiction - our area - and I don't think our government is doing such things. The attacks are by the SPLM and the atrocities are committed by them. These accusations and allegations should be directed to them." 

While violence and genocide are not new to the region, it was hoped that last year's secession of South Sudan would bring peace, but it has not. The border region is filled with people who have mixed loyalties making the area ripe for sectarian violence. But the Sudanese government is trying to quell conflict by acting as an overt aggressor and trying to kill off the people who disagree with Khartoum's governance. 

There is growing international pressure on the Sudanese government to end the violence and allow aid to the distressed region, but it is unlikely to have much effect, since permitting aid would run counter to what the government is trying to do - that is displace and murder en masse the people of South Kordofan. 

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