A father related how he lost his young children in the chaos during a night attack, not knowing if they were dead or alive or their whereabouts. Three widows sat before me with their heads bowed, they painfully shared how their husbands were mown down by a helicopter gunship. Michael shared how one night GOS troops came to his village and rounded up some 40 men who were thought to be anti government and then cold-bloodedly shot them through the head. Mile after mile the remains of burned out and destroyed villages were evident.
Villagers report that many women, some naked, are still hiding in fear in the swamp areas.
Fields of crops were burned and destroyed along with any livestock. Two young children died last Tuesday 1 February from some unknown disease. Another young boy is lying in the dust waiting to die, - there is no medicine to treat him, and the area is too dangerous for health workers to risk traveling to. There are so many kids with breathing problems, swelling, skin diseases and open sores - and little hope. Many of the children reacted in terror to my camera flash, associating that with the flash from the barrel of a gun at night.