Training up his troops of child soldiers, a commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) defends the tender age of his warriors. "They're men really...they're happy to fight because we've given them rifles. They'd be fighting with sticks and spears otherwise." And the SPLA can afford to be generous thanks to private arms dealers. A self-confessed supplier of arms to Iran, Iraq, and Libya was murdered here. According to documents uncovered in this Programme the SPLA had given him a vast teak forest in return for arms.

Back on the frontline of an SPLA/Government showdown, bullets fly. A young boy of no more than 12 slumps to the ground. Trying to escape this war is almost impossible. 3 million people now live in limbo in the refugee camps around Khartoum. As the Government grows ever more militant, the peace they await becomes increasingly remote. By the year 2000 Sudan want 900,000 soldiers to join the jihad against neighbouring states. This year it closed all the universities and sent their students to the frontline. And while war continues, thousands of people face starvation before Christmas.

Produced by SABC Special Assignment