A Sudanese organization accuses Egypt of responsibility for the killing of dozens of Sudanese gold workers

The Sudanese human rights organization "Emergency Lawyers" said on Sunday (October 11, 2026) that an air strike yesterday, Saturday, resulted in the killing of at least 72 civilian mining workers in Sudan.

Pictures published on social media sites and pictures published by local human rights organizations, whose authenticity has not been verified by Reuters, show dozens of bodies scattered among the rubble, others wrapped in shrouds, and workers talking about an air strike on the area.

"Emergency Lawyers" accuses the Egyptian Air Force

The human rights organization blamed the Egyptian Air Force for launching the raid, an accusation that Reuters has not yet been able to verify. The Egyptian army did not comment on the incident, and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment until Sunday evening.

The "Emergency Lawyers" group said, "The Egyptian military aircraft attacks that targeted (Saturday) civilian workers in the North Valley area inside Sudanese territory resulted in the killing of 72 civilian miners, according to preliminary information... while verification work continues to verify the full toll of the victims."

Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm this story independently, and Egypt did not issue any official comment.

Saturday's attack is the second of its kind this year targeting the Jabal Al-Aqeedat area, as last June it was subjected to air strikes that killed 23 workers at an unofficial gold mining site.

Egypt did not claim responsibility for these raids, but it stated that day that it had carried out a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mining activities within its borders.

"We ran uphill"

Abdelaziz Youssef, a survivor, told the Associated Press that an unidentified plane struck an artisanal gold mine in a mountainous area on Saturday morning. He explained that many people were killed or injured and others fled the area for fear of further strikes.

Worker Abdul Aziz Youssef told Agence France-Presse that a fighter jet appeared in the air around eight in the morning on Saturday (06:00 GMT) and “launched five raids that resulted in the killing of a large number of people.”

He added: "We ran up the mountain, fearing another raid." Another survivor, Sharaf Ali, said that thousands of people were working in the remote site when it was bombed.

In June, Egyptian security forces arrested hundreds of people, including foreigners, on the border with Sudan, accusing them of illegally extracting and smuggling gold.

Gold played a major role in the war in Sudan, where the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces smuggled thousands of tons of gold from the Darfur and Kordofan regions to finance themselves.

Since April 2023, the conflict in Sudan has claimed more than 200,000 lives and caused a severe humanitarian crisis that has forced many to work in the risky gold mining sector.