Deadly Strike on Amiet Market

On Monday (Oct 19), a drone strike hit the Amiet market—also known as Al-Naam—located about 10 kilometers north of Abyei town, a territory disputed between Sudan and South Sudan. Local officials said the attack killed more than 220 people, making it one of the deadliest single strikes in the Sudanese civil war.

Yohana Akol Ngor, Abyei's interim information minister, told Reuters on Tuesday (Oct 20) that the death toll rose from 153 to over 220 after two mass graves were discovered near the market—one containing around 153 bodies and the other 73. 'The fire is still burning. The evacuation of bodies is ongoing. The situation is horrific,' Ngor said, adding that about 8,000 people were displaced by the attack.

Accusations Over Culprit and Target

Ngor blamed the Sudanese army for the strike. An unnamed Sudanese military source acknowledged the army carried out the attack, claiming the market was a fuel supply location for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—the paramilitary group the military has been battling since April 2023. Three diplomatic sources told Reuters the strike struck a fuel depot in the market that had previously been used by the RSF.

However, an eyewitness reported seeing no RSF fighters or other uniformed personnel at the market—a commercial hub for fuel, food, building materials, and pharmaceuticals moving from South Sudan into Kordofan and Darfur. Reuters noted it could not independently verify the claims of either side regarding responsibility for the attack.

A Bloody Week in Sudan

The Abyei strike marked the peak of one of the deadliest weeks in Sudan's conflict. On Sunday night (Oct 18), the monitoring group Sudan War Observatory reported that army drones struck West Kordofan state—allegedly launched from the army-controlled city of Kadugli. A truck carrying roughly 200 mourners was hit upon arriving in Al-Dabab, killing 145 people; five others died when a funeral tent was attacked, and about 150 were injured. A market in Al-Mujlad was also struck, with casualty figures unknown.

On Monday, four children were killed following repeated drone strikes targeting the Sudanese army-controlled Khartoum airport. The previous Friday, an attack on a market in Nyala—an RSF stronghold—killed 23 people and injured 44, according to local volunteers. With the revised Abyei toll exceeding 220, the combined death toll reported across various sources for the week's wave of attacks neared 400—all remaining claims by the involved parties that have not been independently verified.

UN Condemnation and Diplomatic Protests

South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Sudanese ambassador, Essam Mohamed Karrar, on Monday in protest and urged Khartoum to resolve the Abyei dispute diplomatically. The humanitarian medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stated it treated more than 20 injured victims—some suffering burn injuries—at Ameth Bek Hospital in Abyei town.

UN (United Nations) spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the UN strongly condemned the wave of drone strikes. Abyei—an oil-rich region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, jointly administered with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) since 2011—borders Kordofan, now a central battleground in a war that has displaced more than 14 million people.