High-tech persecution

Sudan | Islamic regime tests its new Russian-made MiGs on civilian targets, then shuts down all humanitarian aid flights to the south, aggravating already "abysmal" conditions | Mindy Belz

WORLD may have jumped the gun in reporting no casualties after Sudan forces dropped a bomb on the town of Lui on Sept. 12, but government fighters—regrettably—were on target. The bombing killed 14 people, including four children. It also wiped out livestock.

Bomb attacks and casualties are not news in south Sudan, where rebels have been fighting the National Islamic Front forces for 18 years. But this attack was significant. Sudan's air force used a pair of MiG29s, one of a dozen sophisticated fighter jets the Islamic government recently purchased from Russia. The use of an advanced piece of air weaponry allows Sudan to threaten not only its blighted population but also the region and beyond.

The government followed the attack with a Sept. 27 ban on humanitarian flights to southern Sudan. That left UN and private relief flights grounded. Worse, it left 3 million Sudanese living in an area the size of Texas without their main source of food.