Death toll from attack on market in Abyei rises to 153: South Sudanese official

By Adel Abdelrheem and Ikram Kouachi

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL (AA) - The death toll from a drone attack on a market in the disputed Abyei area between South Sudan and Sudan rose to 153, a South Sudanese government official said Wednesday.

Yohana Akol Ngor, acting information minister in the Abyei Special Administrative Area government, told Radio Tamazuj that 153 people had been killed in the attack on Amiet Market, also known as the “Ostrich Market,” in Abyei.

Ngor said the toll included people whose bodies had been buried, while others remained missing, indicating that the number of casualties could rise further.

“The total number of people who died as a result of the drone attacks is 153. These are the people whose bodies have been buried, but there are still people missing,” he said.

Ngor accused the Sudanese army of carrying out Monday’s attack on the market, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of Abyei town.

The Sudanese army has not commented on the allegations.

Ngor said the victims were buried in two mass graves, one east of the market and the other nearby, adding that some bodies had been charred in the attack.

He added that 30 injured people were receiving treatment at a hospital, some of them in critical condition.

On Monday, Sudanese media reported that civilians had been killed and injured in a drone attack targeting the northern entrance of Amiet Market, locally known as the “Ostrich Market,” in Abyei.

The reports said the victims included South Sudanese nationals and members of Sudan’s Misseriya tribe.

On the same day, South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sudanese Ambassador to Juba Isam Karar to protest the attack on the market.

Abyei, an oil-rich area, was granted special status under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by Khartoum and Juba on Sept. 25, 2003.

The area serves as a bridge between northern and southern Sudan. The Arab Misseriya tribes live in the north, while African Dinka communities inhabit the south.

The attack comes amid Sudan’s ongoing war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023 over a dispute about integrating the latter into the military.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 13 million, while worsening famine and a humanitarian crisis considered among the world’s worst.

Ikrame Imane Kouachi