Drone attack in disputed Sudan-South Sudan border region kills at least 153

A drone attack on a market in Abyei, a border region disputed by South Sudan and Sudan, has killed at least 153 people, according to a South Sudanese official.

The Abyei administration’s caretaker minister of information on Tuesday blamed the attack, which took place a day earlier on Amiet Market, north of Abyei town, on Sudan’s military.

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Yohanna Akol Ngor said fires continued to burn at the site and that the death toll was likely to rise.

He told the news agency Reuters that the “situation is terrible”, adding that some bodies had been burned to ashes.

Blaming the Sudanese military for the attack, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said drones hit several locations in the market. It said it has summoned Sudan’s ambassador and called for its northern neighbour to “refrain” from acts that endanger civilian lives and property.

There was no immediate comment from Sudan’s armed forces.

A senior Sudanese officer, who spoke anonymously to The Associated Press news agency, said the army struck fuel tankers coming from South Sudan that were headed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

He added that those killed in the attack were RSF members and fuel smugglers, saying the military does not “target civilians”.

Unnamed diplomats told Reuters the strike hit a fuel depot in the market the RSF has used in the past to supply its fighters.

There was no immediate comment on the attack from the RSF.

In a statement on Tuesday, the United Nations secretary-general’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, condemned drone attacks near Amiet Market and Todach, saying dozens of civilians, including women and children, had been killed and many others injured. The statement did not identify who carried out the attacks.

The UN said many people remained missing and the death toll was likely to rise as the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) continued verifying casualties.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said it was treating more than 20 wounded people, some with severe burns.

The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has ignited a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country.

South Sudan says it has not taken sides, but diplomats say Abyei has become a key route for RSF fuel supplies.

Abyei is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, and is jointly administered. The oil-rich region borders Sudan’s Kordofan area, which has become a major centre of fighting in the war.