At Least 72 Sudanese Miners Killed in Airstrike on Disputed Border Region
Al Jazeera Staff
A Sudanese human rights group says an airstrike on a gold mine near the disputed Sudan-Egypt border killed at least 72 miners, the second such attack this year. Egypt, which has not commented, previously said its operations targeted illegal mining inside its own territory.
An airstrike on a gold mine near the disputed border between Sudan and Egypt has killed at least 72 miners, according to a Sudanese human rights organization. Survivors described scenes of chaos in the mountainous area.
Emergency Lawyers, a group that documents atrocities in Sudan's war, accused Egypt's military of carrying out the attack.
In a post on X on Sunday, the Khartoum-based organization wrote: "Egyptian fighter jets targeted civilian miners in the northern Wadi area, inside Sudanese territory, with preliminary information indicating 72 civilians were killed."
The attack, believed to have occurred on Saturday, could not be independently verified, and Egypt has made no official comment.
It is the second strike this year on the mountainous border region of Jabal al-Uqaydat, a gold-mining area. Similar airstrikes, also attributed to Egypt, killed 23 miners at the same gold mine in June.
At the time, Egypt's military said it had carried out a "large-scale operation" targeting illegal gold mining inside its own territory.
The border between Sudan and Egypt is disputed, with both countries claiming sovereignty over the resource-rich Halaib Triangle.
Images shared on social media and by local human rights groups, which have not been verified, showed dozens of bodies scattered amid rubble and others wrapped in shrouds. Miners recounted an airstrike on the area.
A gold rush
Since April 2023, the war in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed more than 200,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis that has pushed many into dangerous gold mining, which is fueling the war efforts of both sides.
The rugged mountainous region, rich in mineral deposits, stretches for hundreds of kilometers and includes the disputed Halaib Triangle.
Emergency Lawyers said the attack took place inside Sudanese territory.
The group said: "Repeated attacks on the gold- and mineral-rich border region reflect the ambitions of the Egyptian authorities to expand and assert control over Sudan's natural resources."
In June, Egypt's military said its operation was conducted "inside Egyptian territory."
Egypt said 223 people were arrested, including 136 foreigners, and announced the campaign aimed at combating "illegal gold mining and weapons smuggling" in the area.
While backing Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Egypt views the war along its border — which runs 1,200km from the Red Sea to Libya — as a serious threat to its security.
East of the Nile, the porous frontier has long been a busy route for gold, illicit trade and human trafficking, problems Egypt is trying to stem, including through mass deportations.
