At least 72 artisanal gold miners were killed in airstrikes near Sudan’s disputed border with Egypt, according to the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers, though the death toll and responsibility for the attack remain unverified.
The group said Egyptian fighter jets struck civilian miners on October 10, in the Jabal al-Uqaydat area, south of the Halaib Triangle and east of the River Nile, according to Al Jazeera.
“Egyptian fighter jets targeted civilian miners in the northern Wadi area inside Sudanese territory,” Emergency Lawyers said, adding that preliminary information indicated 72 civilians had been killed.
Meanwhile, the Sudan Doctors Network said at least 13 miners were killed and 28 wounded in the strike in the border area. Survivors said the attack occurred in the early morning and involved at least five missiles fired at miners’ camps and excavation pits.
Jabal al-Uqaydat lies in a mountainous, mineral-rich zone near the Halaib Triangle, territory claimed by both Sudan and Egypt. The border region has long been used for artisanal gold mining, smuggling and cross-border movement.
It was the second reported attack on the mining area this year. In June, airstrikes reportedly carried out by Egypt killed 23 workers at the same gold-mining site. Egypt’s military said then that it had conducted a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mining within Egyptian territory, detaining 223 people, including 136 foreign nationals, as part of a campaign against illicit mining and arms smuggling.
Emergency Lawyers said the latest attack reflected an effort by Egyptian authorities to expand control over Sudan’s natural resources. Egypt, which backs Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, views instability along the roughly 1,200-kilometre border as a major security concern.
Sudan’s war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in April 2023 and has killed more than 200,000 people, according to rights monitors cited in regional reporting. The conflict has displaced large numbers of people and pushed many toward dangerous informal gold mining, a sector that also helps finance armed factions.
On October 11, Sudan separately accused Ethiopia of allowing RSF drones to operate from its territory, while Addis Ababa denies allegations.
In early October, the leaders of Egypt, Somalia and Eritrea met Sudan’s Transitional Council head in El Alamein, issuing a statement backing Sudan’s territorial integrity, Red Sea freedom of navigation and cooperation over Nile waters. The meeting also underscored broader tensions involving Ethiopia, including disputes over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Ethiopia’s pursuit of Red Sea access.
