At least 72 civilians prospecting for gold in Sudan’s River Nile state have reportedly been killed in air strikes near the Egyptian border, according to a Sudanese rights group.
Emergency Lawyers, a legal advocacy group based in Khartoum, said aircraft targeted artisanal gold miners at popular mining sites on Saturday, destroying camps and excavation areas. The group released the preliminary death toll on Sunday, warning that the number of casualties could rise as more information becomes available.
Neither the Egyptian government nor Sudan’s de facto authorities had publicly commented on the reported strikes at the time of the report.
Emergency Lawyers condemned the attack, describing it as a violation of Sudan’s territorial sovereignty and raising concerns about the authorities’ ability to protect civilians in the affected region.
“The deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians violates international humanitarian law and the right to life,” the group said.
It added that the alleged attacks could constitute war crimes. The Paris-based Sudan Tribune reported that the death toll could be considerably higher, citing a survivor who said many people were injured. According to eyewitness accounts published by the newspaper, the attack began at about 6am local time, when aircraft reportedly fired more than five missiles at miners’ camps. The strikes allegedly destroyed temporary shelters and excavation pits, some of which still had people inside.
The latest reported strikes have renewed concerns about civilian safety, illegal mining and tensions along the Sudan-Egypt border as Sudan’s conflict continues to disrupt livelihoods and security.
