Sudan's Southern Kordofan region has seen heavy fighting since South Sudan became independent in July last year, with many civilians at risk from air raids and artillery bombardments by Sudanese forces fighting rebels.

But impromptu field hospitals set up to treat the wounded are struggling to cope with the numbers of injuries amid shortages of basic medical supplies, while those seriously hurt face an eight-hour journey without painkillers over some of the roughest roads in the world to the nearest medical clinic.

Al Jazeera's Peter Greste reports from Southern Kordofan.