[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]