KHARTOUM: The Sudanese armed forces burned and shot civilians to death in a “scorched earth” campaign against a rebel chief’s home district in Blue Nile state, Amnesty International said yesterday.

Satellite imagery confirms that the attacks in Blue Nile’s Ingessana Hills, the birthplace of rebel chairman Malik Agar, occurred in the first half of last year, the London-based watchdog said in a 74-page report.

Sudan’s army called the charges a fabrication. The attacks were part of what appeared to be “a concerted attempt” to clear civilians from areas held by Agar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), and to punish residents perceived to be supporting the rebels, the rights group said.

The Ingessana area, southwest of the state capital Ed Damazin, was particularly hard-hit, Amnesty said, after visiting rebel-held areas and interviewing refugees.

About 150,000 people have fled to South Sudan or Ethiopia since fighting began in September 2011.

“The army used scorched-earth tactics, destroying at least eight villages in the (Ingessana) area and probably many more,” Amnesty said.