A Sudanese rights group says at least 72 people were killed in an air strike on a gold mine on the Sudan-Egypt border, while survivors quoted in a separate report put the toll above 200. Neither toll has been independently confirmed.

The group, Emergency Lawyers, said the strike took place on Saturday, 10 October, and called its figure preliminary. It accuses Egypt's air force. Egypt has issued no official comment, and Sudan's military has not responded in the reports we reviewed.

What is reported and by whom

Emergency Lawyers, which documents atrocities in Sudan's war, said on Sunday that 72 people died in a strike on a gold mine at Jabal Al-Uqaydat, a mountainous area on the border. The group said it was still verifying the toll and that the attack happened on Sudanese territory. It warned that deliberately targeting unarmed civilians could amount to war crimes.

Survivor Abdelaziz Youssef said a jet struck five times and many were killed. Another survivor, Sharaf Ali, said thousands of people were working at the site and scattered after the strike, so nobody knows how many died. One survivor said the mine lies just south of the disputed Halayeb triangle.

Conflicting accounts

A separate report dated 11 October quotes three survivors who say more than 200 people were killed and hundreds wounded, many critically, and that miners put the number displaced at more than 15,000. It places the strike in the Shamal al-Wadi area of Red Sea State and says survivors blame the Egyptian military. That outlet said it could not immediately verify social media footage users said showed aircraft entering from Egyptian territory.

A regional press review describes the same event as killing at least 72 civilians in River Nile state. The reports differ on both the toll and the location, and a third headline refers only to “dozens” killed.

Background

Sudan's war, which began in April 2023, has killed more than 200,000 people according to reporting on the conflict, and gold mining has grown on both sides of the border. Egypt backs Sudan's army, and both countries claim the Halayeb triangle.

An earlier strike on the same site in June reportedly killed 23 workers and was also attributed to Egypt. The Egyptian army did not claim the strikes, but said in June it had carried out a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mining within its borders and detained 223 people, including 136 foreign nationals.

What we do not yet know

  • The real death toll; the two accounts differ by more than 100 and neither is independently verified.
  • The exact location: Jabal Al-Uqaydat on the border, Shamal al-Wadi in Red Sea State, or River Nile state.
  • Who carried out the strike. The blame on Egypt comes from the rights group and survivors; Egypt has not commented and no evidence has been published.
  • Whether Sudan's military or any international body will investigate.
  • Needs a second confirmation: every casualty figure and the attribution above each rest on a single source.