Death toll from Sudanese army attack on disputed area rises to 153

A drone strike by the Sudanese army on Monday October 21 left 153 dead in a market located in a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan, according to a new toll which will probably rise, a local official said on Wednesday.

The Abyei region, managed by a “special administrative zone” and placed under the supervision of a United Nations Interim Security Force, is located in a border area disputed since the secession of South Sudan, the youngest nation in the world which obtained its independence from Sudan in 2011. An initial report released Tuesday reported 53 deaths in the drone strike which occurred there on Monday.

“The number of victims stands at 153 and could increase soon, as some have burned to death and rescuers are doing everything possible to collect all the bodies in the Amiet market,” Yohana Akol, acting information minister of the Abyei special administrative zone, told AFP. The victims included Sudanese, South Sudanese, Ethiopians and Somalis, he said, adding that 19 others had been hospitalized.

Images transmitted to AFP show buildings and vehicles destroyed by the bombings. “A swarm of drones flew over the Amiet market and bombed part of the market and its surroundings. There were many victims,” a witness told AFP by telephone, who requested anonymity for security reasons. “Shops are still on fire and people were burned alive inside,” added the witness.

Another witness said fuel depots had been badly damaged. On Sunday and Monday, several strikes in Sudan had already left nearly 100 dead in areas controlled by the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), who have been fighting the army for more than three years. Sudan has been ravaged since 2023 by a devastating war between the regular army and the FSR, a paramilitary militia.