Khartoum: At least 72 Sudanese gold miners were killed in an air strike on a mining site near the disputed Sudan-Egypt border, according to the Sudanese rights organisation Emergency Lawyers. The attack reportedly took place on Saturday, October 10, in the mountainous Jabal al-Uqaydat region of northern Sudan, where artisanal gold mining is widespread.
Emergency Lawyers accused the Egyptian military of carrying out the strike, alleging that Egyptian fighter jets targeted civilian miners in the northern Wadi area inside Sudanese territory. The organisation said the reported death toll was preliminary and that efforts to document and verify the casualties were continuing.
The reported attack has not been independently verified, and Egyptian authorities had not issued an official comment on the incident as of the latest reports. The identity of those responsible therefore remains unconfirmed.
Survivors Describe Chaos After Air Strike
According to reports, the strike hit an artisanal gold mine in a mountainous area close to the Sudan-Egypt border. Survivors described scenes of panic as miners fled the site, fearing further attacks.
Abdelaziz Youssef, one of the survivors, told the Associated Press that an aircraft appeared over the area at around 8 am on Saturday and struck the site five times. He said people were killed and injured, prompting others to run towards the mountains to escape the danger.
Another survivor, Sharaf Ali, said thousands of people had been working at the remote mining site. After the strike, miners scattered in different directions, making it difficult to establish the precise number of casualties. Some reportedly headed towards Al-Ansary market, while others fled elsewhere.
Images circulated on social media and shared by local rights groups appeared to show bodies among rubble and people wrapped in funeral shrouds. However, the images could not be independently verified.
Initial casualty figures differed. The Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group that monitors the conflict, initially reported at least 13 deaths and 28 injuries. It warned that the death toll could increase because some injured people were in serious condition and access to medical facilities was limited. Emergency Lawyers subsequently reported that at least 72 people had been killed.
Emergency Lawyers Accuses Egyptian Military
Emergency Lawyers, a Khartoum-based organisation that documents alleged abuses during Sudan’s war, blamed Egyptian forces for the attack. It said the strike occurred inside Sudanese territory and alleged that repeated attacks in the mineral-rich border region reflected an attempt by Egyptian authorities to expand their control over Sudan’s natural resources.
The allegations have not been independently established. Egypt has not publicly confirmed carrying out the latest strike, and no independently verified account has established which aircraft conducted the attack.
The incident is reported to be the second major attack this year on the Jabal al-Uqaydat gold-mining region. Similar strikes in June reportedly killed 23 workers at an informal mining site.
At that time, the Egyptian military said it had conducted a large-scale operation against illegal gold mining within Egyptian territory. It also announced that 223 people had been detained, including 136 foreign nationals, as part of efforts to counter illegal gold mining and arms smuggling.
The latest incident has renewed attention on the disputed border region and the competing claims over its territory and mineral resources.
Disputed Border and Gold Trade Fuel Tensions
The mining area lies near the disputed Halaib Triangle, a resource-rich region claimed by both Sudan and Egypt. The rugged border zone contains significant mineral deposits and has long been associated with informal gold mining, illicit trade and human trafficking.
The region has also become more significant amid Sudan’s ongoing conflict, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war has caused mass displacement and a severe humanitarian crisis, pushing more people towards dangerous artisanal mining for their livelihoods.
Gold is an important source of revenue for both sides of the conflict. Reports have documented the smuggling of gold from Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, including through routes leading towards Egypt. A 2024 United Nations Panel of Experts report estimated that more than half of Sudan’s gold production was being smuggled out of the country.
Egypt, which backs Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has also expressed security concerns over the conflict along its approximately 1,200-kilometre border with Sudan. Its authorities have sought to curb illegal mining and smuggling in the border region.
The latest air strike highlights the risks facing miners working in the remote area, where difficult terrain and limited access to healthcare can complicate rescue efforts and the verification of casualties. Further details about the attack, its precise location and responsibility remain unconfirmed.