At least 72 Sudanese artisanal miners killed in strike, rights monitor says

At ​least 72 artisanal miners were killed in an airstrike in ​northern Sudan, rights monitor Emergency Lawyers said on Sunday, ‌in ​the second such incident in recent months.

Emergency Lawyers blamed the Egyptian air force for the strike, a claim Reuters could not immediately verify. The Egyptian military did not comment on the strike, which the rights monitor ‌said took place on Saturday. Egypt's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but on Monday foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said on X that he had "reaffirmed" with his Sudanese counterpart "our historic fraternal ties and commitment to continued coordination and consultation."

On Monday, Sudan's army-led government said the incident occurred ‌in a border area between Sudan and Egypt and that it was investigating. "It is important to treat this incident seriously, guaranteeing the uncovering ‌of facts, and the protection and respect of borders." The government said Sudanese and Egyptian leaders had been in contact immediately after the incident but stopped short of directly blaming Egypt for the attack.

Two Egyptian security officials said the strike was intended to end a state of "chaos" along the border and efforts by Egyptian and Sudanese groups to seize control ⁠of mining ​areas. Images shared on social media and ⁠by local rights groups, but not verified by Reuters, showed dozens of bodies strewn among rubble and others wrapped in funeral shrouds, and miners describing an airstrike on the area.

Emergency ⁠Lawyers said such a cross-border attack would violate international law. Northern Sudan has seen an influx of artisanal miners and makeshift gold mining operations since the country's civil ​war upended traditional livelihoods. Gold has become a critical source of revenue for both sides in the conflict, and experts and industry participants ⁠say much of the metal is smuggled into neighbouring Egypt.

The latest strikes follow the launch of a large-scale operation against illegal gold mining in southern Egypt, which Egypt's military announced in ⁠June ​and resulted in more than 200 arrests. Air strikes in June targeted a group suspected of illegal gold mining, smuggling and drug trafficking, killing an unspecified number, Egyptian military officials said at that time, which they said occurred on Egyptian territory.

The border between Egypt and Sudan is porous, ⁠and under dispute in two mineral-rich regions known as Halayeb and Shalateen. The war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has seen an ⁠increased frequency of mass-casualty events, particularly ⁠as drone warfare becomes the primary mode of fighting.

On Friday, some 31 people were killed in a drone strike on a displacement camp in an army-controlled area of Sudan's Blue Nile state, one of the war's ‌frontlines, according to the ‌United Nations.