Drone Strike on Abyei Market Kills at Least 153 People
A drone strike on the Amiet market in the disputed border region of Abyei, between Sudan and South Sudan, hit a fuel depot and killed at least 153 people, sparking a huge fire, The Associated Press and Reuters reported.
The attack took place on Monday at about 11:30 a.m. local time, roughly 10 kilometres north of the town of Abyei. Local authorities first reported 73 victims, but the death toll later more than doubled. Acting Abyei information minister Johanna Akol Ngor blamed the Sudanese army. "We have recorded 153 dead," Ngor said, adding that the number keeps rising because the fire could not be brought under control for a long time. Authorities in the region categorically denied that there were military personnel at the market.
Witnesses and the army's account
Witnesses told Reuters of at least five powerful explosions, after which flames instantly engulfed the market. A senior Sudanese military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a drone operation. According to him, the targets were fuel tankers that had arrived from South Sudan and were heading to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). "We do not strike civilians," the officer said, claiming all those killed were RSF fighters or people involved in fuel smuggling, and that the strike was carried out outside the agreed demilitarised zone.
Medical response and reactions
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said severely wounded people were flooding into Amet Bek hospital. Medical programme coordinator Dr Christian Lindauer said doctors had received more than 20 patients in critical condition with severe burns and shrapnel injuries.
The United Nations condemned the strike. UN Secretary-General's spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the growing number of drone attacks on civilian infrastructure is "part of a deeply worrying trend". South Sudan's foreign ministry blamed the Sudanese military, summoned Sudan's ambassador in protest and urged Khartoum to avoid actions that endanger civilians and to resolve all border issues diplomatically.
Background
The oil-bearing Abyei region has been disputed between Sudan and South Sudan since the 2005 peace agreement and South Sudan's independence in 2011; its final status is unresolved, and security is maintained by the UN interim force UNISFA. A full-scale war between Sudan's army and the RSF broke out in April 2023. Since then the Amiet market has become a strategic trade and logistics hub supplying food, medicine and fuel from South Sudan to war-hit Darfur and Kordofan. In recent months the Sudanese army has sharply stepped up drone strikes on RSF rear supply chains, which regularly causes mass civilian casualties. More world news is in our world section.