Sudan army drone raid on Abyei market leaves at least 153 dead
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Sudanese military drone strikes blasted a bustling open-air market and adjacent fuel depot in the contested border region of Abyei (Photo: Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout via REUTERS)
Sudanese military drone strikes hit a market and fuel depot in the contested Abyei region, killing over 150 people, South Sudanese officials said, Reuters wrote on Oct. 20.
The lethal bombardment brings the cumulative death toll from air attacks in the region over recent days to more than 250, underscoring the growing lethality of aerial warfare in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
Abyei’s acting Information Minister Yohana Akol Ngor told Reuters that the confirmed death toll from Oct. 19 market attack surged from an initial 73 to 153, warning that the final casualty count is expected to climb further as recovery operations proceed.
"The fire is still burning. Because of that, the process of recovering the bodies of the dead has not been concluded. The situation is horrifying," Ngor stated, adding that numerous victims were burned beyond recognition.
Eyewitness footage and ground reports described scenes of extreme devastation, with charred vehicle skeletons, collapsed merchant stalls, and incinerated masonry lining the streets. Plumes of black smoke and flames continued to billow from collapsed buildings as local residents surveyed the ruins.
Ngor attributed direct responsibility for the deadly air raid to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), though he did not provide immediate documentary evidence to support the accusation.
Three diplomatic sources, a humanitarian aid worker, and a regional conflict analyst confirmed to Reuters that the airstrike directly struck a fuel storage depot located inside the market perimeter. Diplomatic sources noted that the storage facility was earlier utilized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to resupply its operational detachments.
The Abyei Dispute and the Broader Sudanese Conflict
The contested border enclave: Abyei, home to major oil-producing fields, has remained a volatile territorial flashpoint between Sudan and South Sudan for decades. While governed under a special joint administrative arrangement between Khartoum and Juba, the region is frequently engulfed by lethal communal clashes between competing ethnic groups and rival armed factions.
The world's worst displacement crisis: Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces, commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces. According to United Nations assessments, the conflict has driven approximately 14 million people from their homes, precipitating what the UN formally designates as the largest and most severe humanitarian and displacement catastrophe on the globe.
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