Drone attack on Abyei market kills at least 153, South Sudanese official says
A drone attack on Amiet Market, north of Abyei town, killed at least 153 people on 20 October, according to a South Sudanese official. Al Jazeera reported the figure on 21 October, and the toll may rise. Officials say many people remain missing.
Yohanna Akol Ngor, the caretaker minister of information in the Abyei administration, blamed Sudan's military for the strike. He told Reuters that fires were still burning at the site, that more deaths were likely, and that some bodies had been burned to ashes.
South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also blamed the Sudanese military. It said drones hit several locations in the market and summoned Sudan's ambassador, formally calling him in to address the accusation.
A senior Sudanese army officer, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, gave a different account. He said the army struck fuel tankers travelling from South Sudan to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in the Sudan war, and that those killed were RSF members and fuel smugglers. Unnamed diplomats told Reuters that the strike hit a fuel depot in the market that the RSF had previously used to supply its fighters.
The RSF has not been quoted publicly on the attack. Sudan's army has not been quoted on it either, beyond the anonymous officer's account.
The United Nations secretary-general's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, condemned drone attacks near Amiet Market and Todach. He said dozens of civilians, including women and children, were killed, but did not name who carried out the attacks. The UN force in Abyei, known as UNISFA, is verifying casualties, and the UN said many people remain missing.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said it was treating more than 20 wounded people from the attack, some with severe burns.
Abyei is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan and is jointly administered by them. It borders Sudan's Kordofan region, a major centre of fighting in the Sudan war. Diplomats say Abyei has become a key route for RSF fuel supplies. South Sudan says it has not taken sides in the Sudan war.
