Postcards From Hell: 3/60

This series is a look at Foreign Policy Magazine's "Postcards From Hell, 2012: What does living in a failed state look like? A tour through the world’s 60 most fragile countries." You can read the full photo essay here. DPoH commentary on photos provided by Jacqueline, unless otherwise noted.

I'm not really sure how to explain my feelings about this country in a pithy way. Our third postcard comes from Sudan.

Have a witty caption, reader? Put it in the comments: I honestly can't think of one for this picture.

...you know what? It's Saturday. I'm going to quote directly from Foreign Policy on this. There is no way I can adequately cover Sudan in a couple of paragraphs.

The year 2011 saw the fragile state of Sudan literally break in two when South Sudan formally declared independence in July. The split between the two longtime rivals has not been a peaceful one, with numerous skirmishes over oil-producing regions along the border, a worsening internal refugee crisis as South Sudanese find themselves stranded in the north, and each side accusing the other of supporting internal rebel movements. Tensions came to a head in April of this year when the Khartoum regime launched airstrikes and sent ground troops over the border, and northern President Omar al-Bashir vowed to wipe out South Sudanese leaders, referring to them as "insects." Analysts are now warning that a wider war looms.

Here, the shell of a vehicle that was hit by a bomb sits in front of the abandoned village of Trogi during fighting in the South Kordofan region along the border.