A drone strike on a fuel depot in a market in the disputed Abyei region on the border between Sudan and South Sudan by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has killed at least 153 people, official sources said on Wednesday.
Three diplomatic sources, an aid worker and a conflict expert, told Reuters that the strike hit a fuel depot that had previously been used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Yohana Ngor, caretaker information minister in Abyei, said the death toll from the attack that happened on Monday had risen to 153 from 73 and was likely to climb further. “The fire is still burning. So the recovery process of the dead is still continuing. The situation is terrible,” he added. Some bodies had been burnt to ashes, he said.
Video from the scene on Tuesday showed charred, twisted remains of vehicles and buildings. Flames billowed from one building as residents inspected the damage.
Mr Ngor blamed the SAF led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan for the strike. Officials in Sudan's SAF-backed government said that the RSF was active in parts of Abyei, a claim Mr Ngor denied.
The Government of South Sudan said in a statement that it has "learned with grave concern of the drone attack carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces against Amiet Market, situated north of Abyei Town".
It added that the attack struck multiple locations within the market, resulting in civilian casualties, injuries, and significant destruction of property.
"Following this incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned the Ambassador of the Republic of the Sudan to convey the Government's strong protest and deep concern regarding the attack and its implications for the security of civilians and the stability of the Abyei Area," it added.
"The Government calls upon the Republic of the Sudan to refrain from any actions that endanger civilian lives and property. The Government further urges that issues relating to the Abyei Area be addressed through established diplomatic channels and existing mechanisms for dialogue and engagement," warned the government.
The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei had warned in May that the RSF's presence in the region had increased insecurity. It said delays in determining Abyei's final status had put civilians and UN personnel at risk.
On Tuesday, the UN strongly condemned a series of drone attacks in Abyei and other areas. "We remain alarmed by the relentless drone attacks across Sudan, as well as the damage they are causing to critical infrastructure – these attacks are taking a devastating toll on communities already struggling with the consequences of more than three years of conflict,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric d said in New York.
The attack Abyei pushed the death toll from a series of strikes in recent days past 250, in one of the bloodiest weeks of a civil war that has spilt across Sudan's borders. The war erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, causing a major humanitarian crisis and drawing in local militias and foreign powers.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. Since then, both countries have laid claim to oil-rich Abyei, which is jointly administered. The region borders Sudan's Kordofan region, which has become a major centre of fighting in the war.
Last week, the UN called for an immediate halt to drone attacks in Sudan's civil war, warning that the weapons have become the leading cause of civilian casualties this year. Rosemary DiCarlo, undersecretary general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council that a mutual ban on drones had the “potential to dramatically improve protection for civilians”.
UN data shows that more than 1,100 people were killed by drone strikes across Sudan during the first half of this year.
Ms DiCarlo's comments on Friday came after an air strike killed five children in a town controlled by the RSF in North Kordofan, according to the Emergency Lawyers, a rights group monitoring abuses in Sudan’s conflict, who blamed the SAF for the attack.
Last month, a UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan found that the SAF used foreign-supplied drones in operations that harmed civilians. While it repeated accusations that external players have supported the RSF by facilitating weapons transfers, the report has cast a harsher light on the actions of the SAF, which has rejected ceasefire attempts and has vowed to continue the war until it achieves victory.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, established by the UN Human Rights Council, said that "available evidence indicates that, since late 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces has significantly expanded its drone capabilities through foreign-supplied systems".
The findings documented attacks attributed to the SAF on locations where "civilian presence was substantial or readily foreseeable", citing at least four waves of drone strikes on hospitals, markets and other civilian locations in different areas.
