ABYEI, October 21 (Aalimi Nation) – A drone strike on a busy market in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan has killed at least 153 people, a local official said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the Sudan war in recent weeks. The figure has not been independently confirmed, and the United Nations has given a lower, more cautious count.
The attack hit Amiet Market, north of Abyei town, on Monday, October 19. Yohanna Akol Ngor, an official of the Abyei administration, said fires were still burning at the site, that the death toll was likely to rise, and that the "situation is terrible". He said some bodies had been burned to ashes.
Casualties and humanitarian response
Doctors Without Borders said it was treating more than 20 wounded people, some with severe burns. The United Nations said many people remained missing. A spokesman for the UN Secretary-General condemned drone attacks near Amiet Market and the nearby area of Todach, saying dozens of civilians, including women and children, had been killed and many injured. The statement did not name those responsible.
The UN peacekeeping force in Abyei is working to verify casualty figures, and the UN has said it expects the toll to rise. Reported death tolls vary at this stage.
Who is blamed
Abyei's caretaker information minister blamed Sudan's military for the strike. South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said drones hit several locations in the market, blamed Sudan's military, and summoned Sudan's ambassador. It urged Sudan to "refrain" from acts that endanger civilian lives and property.
Sudan's armed forces did not immediately comment publicly. A senior Sudanese military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army had struck fuel tankers coming from South Sudan and headed for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The officer said those killed were RSF members and fuel smugglers and that the military does not "target civilians". Diplomats, who also asked not to be named, said the strike hit a fuel depot in the market that the RSF had used to supply its fighters. The RSF had not commented.
None of these competing accounts could be verified independently.
Background
Sudan's army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023, a conflict that has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. South Sudan says it has not taken sides, but diplomats say Abyei has become an important route for RSF fuel supplies.
Abyei is an oil-rich area claimed by both countries and administered jointly. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, and the status of Abyei was never settled. The region borders Sudan's Kordofan area, a major centre of fighting.
What to watch next
The UN verification of casualties, any official response from Khartoum, and South Sudan's diplomatic follow-up after summoning Sudan's ambassador will show whether the incident widens tensions between the two neighbours.
