Mysterious, majestic; Sudan’s Nuba Mountains

The vast and rugged Nuba Mountains in Sudan, which extend southward in the region’s South Kordofan region, are characterized by rocky hills and dispersed huts.

After the rebel group in charge, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the government in charge, fought for autonomy in the mountains for decades, the region’s Nuba people have been subject to constant pressure from the government in Khartoum, who have been starving and bombarding them for decades.

The local population has been stung even more by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ethnic cleansing campaigns in recent years.

The SPLM-N then allied with the RSF, a group accused of genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing, to take control of the nation from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since 2023, at the start of this year.

Residents of the Nuba Mountains expressed mixed emotions and deep resentment about the pact.

Some residents are suspicious of the decision, while others are afraid to speak out loud and rely on their leaders’ convictions to restore peace in the area.

Many people believe the alliance will lead to stability and peace, something that was desperately needed after decades of persistent wars.

The Nuba Mountains have experienced hunger before, and now that the new alliance may have caused more fighting, its spectre is growing.

Famine broke out in some of the mountains in 2024 as a result of aid blockades by the warring parties, failed harvests, and locust swarms.

Since the war started in the region in 2023, the local communities and the more than one million internally displaced people who have moved in have survived on leaves and scraps and are still unprepared for food.

Doctors in the area issue warnings about a siloed mental health crisis affecting the displaced and report a rise in malnutrition, particularly in children and pregnant women.

Yet despite this destruction, a strong spirit of solidarity pervades. Communities support one another across all boundaries of their religious convictions and geographical boundaries.