Sudan / South Kordofan

"Representative Chris Smith (pictured in June), who heads the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, on Friday urged the immediate deployment of peacekeepers to Sudan's war-torn border region of Southern Kordofan, warning of a risk of 'genocide' by government forces." (AFP/File/Jim Watson)

US Lawmaker Seeks Peacekeepers on Sudan "Genocide"
Agence France-Presse dispatch on Yahoo! News, August 5, 2011
"A senior US lawmaker urged the immediate deployment of peacekeepers to Sudan's war-torn border region of Southern Kordofan, warning of a risk of 'genocide' by government forces. South Sudan last month broke away from Sudan to become the world's newest independent nation but violence has persisted in Southern Kordofan, an oil-producing region that remains under Khartoum's rule. Representative Chris Smith, who heads the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, on Friday said there were credible signs of systematic attacks by Sudan's Arab and Muslim forces against the largely Christian Nubian people. 'There has been far too little interest shown and there are no UN peacekeepers to help provide at least some semblance of protection. So the people are just being mowed down,' Smith said in an interview on C-SPAN's 'Newsmakers' program to air on Sunday. 'We have another potential genocide -- certainly mass killing -- because of who they are, their ethnicity and their faith,' Smith said.
Smith urged the deployment of peacekeepers, citing the example of another disputed Sudanese region, Abyei, where the United Nations authorized a 4,200-troop Ethiopian force ahead of the independence of South Sudan. 'A deployment immediately could be very effective in mitigating the loss of life,' Smith said. Smith on Thursday convened an emergency congressional hearing where Andudu Adam Elnail, the Anglican bishop from Southern Kordofan's capital Kadugli, charged that Sudanese troops were deliberately targeting civilians. Elnail said forces were going door-to-door to kill perceived rebel supporters. The bishop asked for the assistance of US satellites to identify alleged mass graves. Smith said that a bombing campaign has also prevented people from tending to crops, meaning that tens of thousands of people risked hunger. [...]"
[n.b. Thanks to Adnan Kochar for bringing this source to my attention.]