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  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: In July, 2011, South Sudan declared

  • independence from Sudan.

  • After decades of conflict, and the deaths of nearly three

  • million people, it looked liked the East African country

  • was finally at peace.

  • But the new state of South Sudan left its former allies

  • in Blue Nile abandoned on the wrong side of the border.

  • The local Blue Nile division of the South Sudanese Army,

  • the SPLA, now found themselves fighting the war on their own

  • as a tiny outnumbered rebel group.

  • And they chose a name for themselves, the SPLA North.

  • Within weeks, the Sudanese government moved to crush the

  • Blue Nile rebels.

  • A five-year truce was suddenly broken, and Sudan was plunged

  • back into war.

  • Hundreds of thousands of civilians had fled to refugee

  • camps across the border.

  • But no one seems to care.

  • This is the world's least-reported war, because no

  • journalists have ever spent time on the front line.

  • And no one knows what's actually

  • happening inside Blue Nile.

  • So I went to hang out with the rebels for a month to find out

  • what was really going on.

  • They all seemed like nice guys, but I wasn't sure they

  • really knew what they were doing.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • MOHAMMED YOUNES BUBAKIR: Me, I am Brigadier General Mohammed

  • Younes Bubakir--

  • Blue Nile, Blue Nile state.

  • Now you are in Blue Nile, welcome.

  • And then, we go to the front line.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: You captured this?

  • MOHAMMED YOUNES BUBAKIR: Yes, we captured

  • these from the enemy.

  • -From SAF.

  • MOHAMMED YOUNES BUBAKIR: Ah, yeah--

  • this one.

  • Then, we captured many tanks from the enemy since 1997.

  • This is the beginning of the war here in Blue Nile.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: Since South Sudan stopped supplying the

  • rebels, their only source of heavy weapons was whatever

  • they could capture from the enemy, whatever rusty and

  • broken equipment they were able to repair and keep

  • moving, like a lethal version of "Scrapheap Challenge."

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • FARJALLAH HAMID: They don't want the

  • democratic system in Sudan.

  • They want to rule us with what they have in their minds, so

  • the system of Shariah law, which cannot

  • take all of us together.

  • Because here, we have some of us.

  • They don't have even religion.

  • How can you do them?

  • Yeah, you cannot chase them away from Sudan.

  • So we can't live together.

  • So that is our problem.

  • So we will fight.

  • Even if only one man can remain, he will fight--

  • no problem.

  • And we have-- our generation will come with the same system

  • of our right, no problem.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: Why are you fighting against Bashir?

  • FARJALLAH HAMID: We are fighting for our freedoms.

  • We want our freedoms.

  • We want our motherlands.

  • We want Sudan to become one national democracy for the

  • people of Sudan--

  • all--

  • to become united to work together.

  • Yeah, we want to rule the Sudans as the Negro people, as

  • the human being.

  • And we have to do that to get our freedom for our

  • motherland.

  • And we'll defend our land.

  • We can move anywhere.

  • We will be around him.

  • Everything--

  • we will destroy all his materials.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: What will happen if you catch him?

  • FARJALLAH HAMID: As he shot our civilians,

  • we will shoot him.

  • We will shoot him.

  • ABDULLAH ALI: The more importance--

  • to have a very good plan for our forces.

  • How to attack the enemy and to save our soldiers--

  • safe sides.

  • I made a very, very, good plan--

  • how to attack.

  • Because we have our visions, and we've been suffering a lot

  • in the bush.

  • As you see now, we are not in the towns.

  • And we are asking God to support us so that we can

  • manage to get our refugees or take our IDPs.

  • Let our people go back home.

  • This is our plan, and all our soldiers know that.

  • MOHAMMED YOUNES BUBAKIR: We'll fight with him with the

  • Kalashnikov.

  • This is the rifle we have.

  • We don't have any weapons.

  • We'll fight with him with the Kalashnikov.

  • And we will capture from him.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: In fighting this war, logistic

  • difficulties--

  • bad roads, lack of fuel--

  • is that a major problem, a big problem?

  • ABDULLAH ALI: Yes, the main problem is the

  • logistics, as I mentioned.

  • That is especially food and the fuel, and then some

  • ammunition.

  • And then additionally, the rain's too heavy these days.

  • The people cannot move.

  • They're moving and encountering some difficulties

  • on the main road and getting stuck.

  • That is a problem.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: What's the problem here?

  • SOLOMON DAMDAM: There's a problem with the water.

  • We are afraid here, because the car will get stuck.

  • This is what we are afraid--

  • to cross there.

  • Because we are there.

  • We are not being here, we are just being across there.

  • To move it from here, we'll pass by the foot.

  • And then we will cross, and we're almost there.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: The more time I spent with the rebels, the

  • more chilled out their war seemed.

  • Because of rainy season, neither side could launch a

  • decisive attack on the other.

  • Instead, the rebels seemed to spend all their time playing

  • cards and dominoes.

  • But even in rainy season, the Sudanese government had one

  • means of keeping the war alive.

  • Whatever the weather, they were able to bomb us whenever

  • they wanted.

  • This is us being bombed before we even had breakfast.

  • We were lucky.

  • The bombs missed us and exploded

  • harmlessly in the bush.

  • Now that it was over, the air raid seemed like the funniest

  • thing in the world.

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: The lull in fighting

  • seemed to go on forever.

  • The war took a back seat as the rebels

  • sheltered from the rain.

  • Once, I taught them how to play noughts and crosses.

  • I didn't do anything else for days.

  • -You try to beat him.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: I am trying.

  • I'm trying my very best.

  • That's the sad thing.

  • -You are trying, but it will not happen.

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: Yeah, you can stop now.

  • Thank you very much.

  • It was like a really laid-back camping holiday.

  • While some people worked, others improved their English

  • or just made friends with the local wildlife.

  • Finally, it was time for the big push.

  • Overnight, the rebels launched a surprise attack on

  • government positions.

  • After a month of waiting for some action, the rebels had

  • finally attacked, but they wouldn't even

  • let us film the fighting.

  • Instead, they brought us to the village a couple of hours

  • after they had captured it from the government.

  • So can you tell us about the fighting this morning?

  • SOLOMON DAMDAM: So this fighting this morning, it

  • started in Deir Mansour.

  • And now, the SPLA are chasing outside their forces.

  • And still, we don't get the accurate report--

  • how many tanks they have captured and how many guns

  • they have captured there.

  • And we have information that there's the one--

  • something like one or two tanks they have

  • withdrawn on this side.

  • And now, we're sending one platoon to check.

  • If they are getting there, we'll continue

  • fighting these tanks.

  • [CHEERING]

  • -[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUE]

  • [CHANTING]

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: Are your men confident?

  • SOLOMON DAMDAM: Confident?

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: [INAUDIBLE].

  • SOLOMON DAMDAM: Yeah, yes.

  • [SINGING]

  • ARIS ROUSSINOS: This was the rebels' first victory in a

  • year of fighting.

  • And for them, it was time to party.

  • But the war's not over yet.

  • The Sudanese government has promised a counterattack soon.

  • Now both sides are waiting for the end of the rainy season

  • and the beginning of the fighting season.

  • [CHEERING]

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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