Sudan Army Strike Kills 53 at Disputed Abyei Market

A Sudanese army drone strike on Amiet market in the disputed Abyei district killed 53 people and wounded at least 27, local authorities said Tuesday. The attack came Monday; authorities accused the army of firing 22 munitions at the market.

The Amiet strike

Women, children, older people and local merchants numbered among those killed and wounded, local authorities said. Victims also included members of the host Ngok Dinka community, South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees who had sought sanctuary from the regional conflict.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Sudanese ambassador and condemned the strike “in the strongest terms possible.” The ministry accused the Sudanese army of striking multiple locations inside the market, which it described as a transit point for goods headed to areas controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sudan and South Sudan both claim Abyei. They separated in 2011 after decades of conflict. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a splinter group from the organization that fought for Juba’s independence, controls parts of the district. The SPLM-N has split into two factions, and each backs an opposing side in Sudan’s war.

Attacks across Sudan

Amiet’s strike came during a wider wave of attacks. More than 100 people died in strikes across Sudan between Sunday and Monday amid the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023. Multiple outside powers have fuelled the war. It has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The deadliest reported attack in the recent wave hit near a market in al-Dibab town in West Kordofan on Sunday evening. Residents and medical workers said a drone struck a transport hub where villagers had gathered after a market day to find rides home. They reported 80 deaths.

Ahmed Abakar Wadi, a resident who helped bury victims, told AFP that workers recovered at least 50 bodies at the scene, including his brother’s. Another 47 wounded people went to nearby al-Mujlad; according to a medical source, 30 later died.

“The drone struck once, and then came back 10 minutes later and struck again,” Wadi told AFP. The RSF’s self-declared administration, Tasis, and the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers accused the army of carrying out the al-Dibab attack. The military hadn’t commented.

More drone attacks reported

The al-Dibab strike ranked among the deadliest single attacks in Kordofan, an oil-rich region linking western and eastern Sudan where the army and RSF are fighting for territory. Strikes also hit the RSF stronghold of Nyala in South Darfur and the army-controlled capital, Khartoum.

The United Nations said drone attacks across Sudan killed more than 1,100 people during the first half of 2026. Amiet added market casualties in territory claimed by Sudan and South Sudan to a series of attacks that have killed civilians across the country.