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South Sudan officials said a drone strike on a crowded market in the disputed Abyei region killed 153 people. The attack is considered one of the deadliest linked to the war in Sudan, which began in April 2023.
Abyei officials said the strike hit the market around midday on Monday, north of Abyei town, and that fires hampered rescue efforts. Yohanna Akol Ngor, the region’s acting information minister, told Reuters that the confirmed death toll had risen to 153 from an earlier estimate of 73. He said the toll could increase as search operations continued.
“The fire is still ongoing. The process of retrieving the bodies of those killed is continuing. The situation is horrific,” Ngor said.
South Sudan’s government blamed the Sudanese army for the strike, AnewZ reported, but provided no public evidence to substantiate the allegation. The Sudanese Armed Forces had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Fuel depot also hit in the market
Diplomatic sources, an aid worker and a conflict analyst told Reuters that the drone strike may have hit a fuel depot inside the market. They said the facility had previously been used to supply fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF did not immediately comment on the allegations.
Conflicting accounts of responsibility for the strike highlight the difficulty of determining who carried out attacks as Sudan’s war spreads to border areas. Reuters said it could not independently verify the circumstances of the attack or whether military targets were present in the area.
Thousands displaced in Abyei
Oil-rich Abyei has been disputed by Sudan and South Sudan since South Sudan became independent in 2011; both countries claim the territory. The jointly administered region lies along Sudan’s volatile Kordofan border and has become a key battleground between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF.
Sudanese government officials have previously alleged that RSF fighters were active in parts of Abyei. Ngor rejected the claim, saying the paramilitary group was not in the area. The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) warned in May that increased RSF activity was worsening security. It also said delays in resolving the region’s political status were increasing risks to civilians and peacekeepers.
The strike forced thousands of residents to leave their homes and worsened the humanitarian crisis in the region. Ngor said about 8,000 people had been displaced. The displacement is adding pressure to an area with weak infrastructure and limited access to essential services.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack and summoned Sudan’s ambassador in Juba to lodge a protest. The ministry’s statement confirmed that drones had hit a market north of Abyei town but did not give figures for those killed or injured.
Hospitals struggle to treat the wounded
Hospitals in Abyei are struggling to treat patients with severe burns and blast injuries. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said more than 20 patients were being treated at Ameth Bek Hospital.
“Alongside surgical services and wound dressing, we are also providing other emergency medical care,” Christian Lindauer, MSF’s medical activities manager at the hospital, said in a statement.
Images released by MSF showed wounded people receiving care on the hospital floor and in temporary treatment areas, while medical teams worked to cope with the influx of patients.
Drone attacks increase in Sudan
Both sides in Sudan’s war are increasingly using drones, raising concerns about mounting civilian casualties. Recent attacks have reportedly targeted Nyala, which is under RSF control, as well as sites controlled by the army, including Khartoum airport.
Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers rights group said earlier this month that dozens of people had been killed in separate strikes in West Kordofan and blamed the Sudanese army. The conflict has also affected neighboring countries: Chadian authorities have accused the Sudanese army of carrying out drone strikes on Chadian territory, raising concerns that the conflict could spread further across the region.
Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously defended military operations near the border, saying the armed forces were acting to protect national security. Before the attack in Abyei, a separate airstrike took place on October 10 near Sudan’s border with Egypt. According to a local rights group, more than 70 artisanal gold miners were killed in that strike.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and increased instability in neighboring areas. The strike in Abyei highlights the growing danger to civilians in border areas where political tensions and armed conflict overlap, far from the country’s main battlefields. Search and rescue operations are continuing, and the death toll could rise.
