The Satellite Sentinel project has captured images of troops and other military assets in South Kordofan, a Sudanese province that buttresses the disputed Abyei region. In the images you can see artillery, a helicopter, garrisons, and and armored personnel carriers.
The good news there are no signs that these assets are advancing toward Abyei. In a release, the Enough Project says that this fact on the ground “provides a window for the peace process to address outstanding North-South issues which, if unresolved, could trigger renewed conflict.”
The Satellite Sentinel Project is a collaboration between several organizations, and was co-founded by George Clooney. He had this to say about the public release of the first satellite imagery:
“These first images and analysis have deepened our understanding of the evolving situation following Southern Sudan’s historic vote on independence. Although the SAF in South Kordofan apparently remains a force largely in hiding, we showed they are field-deployed, and they are controlling major roads by running checkpoints. Though they are not showing signs of advancing, we confirmed that they’re equipped with helicopter transport, artillery, armored personnel carriers and trucks. Our first report represents the best recent information on the military situation in Sudan publicly available.”
As I have said before, is a potentially a very savvy way to keep activists engaged engaged in the ongoing situation in Southern Sudan.
Here’s the full report and image analysis.