Sudan army drone strike kills dozens at Amiet Market in disputed Abyei region, UN condemns

A drone strike blamed on Sudan’s army killed dozens at a market in Abyei, the region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, local authorities and the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Abyei district authorities said the strike hit Amiet Market, north of Abyei town, on Monday, killing 53 people and wounding at least 27. They accused the army of launching 22 munitions; the dead included women, children, the elderly, merchants, Ngok Dinka residents, returnees and refugees.

The caretaker information minister, Yohanna Akol Ngor, put the toll far higher. “We have recorded 153 deaths,” he told the Associated Press, adding the strike had hit a fuel depot near the market and the fire was still burning Tuesday.

A senior Sudanese army officer, speaking anonymously, said it targeted fuel tankers arriving from South Sudan bound for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. “We do not target civilians,” he said, adding the strike was outside the demilitarised zone. The AP said it could not independently verify his account.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric condemned the “relentless drone strikes”, citing “at least 28 civilians” killed at Amiet Market and Todach on Monday, with many injured or unaccounted for. He also cited a market strike in Al Dibab, West Kordofan, on Sunday that killed dozens; a Khartoum home strike on Monday that killed a father and three children aged two to six; a house strike in Nyala; and damage to White Nile state’s Tendalti power station on Tuesday. South Sudan’s foreign ministry summoned Sudan’s ambassador.

Sources

• Drone attack by Sudan’s army kills 53 in disputed region — Dawn
• UN condemns drone strikes in Sudan — CGTN
• Drone strike on market in Sudan kills over 150 — AP via NDTV