A Sudanese army drone strike killed 53 people at a market in a region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, local authorities said Tuesday, marking the latest in a series of deadly attacks.
Authorities in Abyei district said the strike hit Amiet market Monday. They accused the army of launching 22 munitions in the attack, which also wounded at least 27 people.
"The casualties comprise vulnerable civilian populations, including women, children, the elderly, local merchants, members of the host Ngok Dinka community, South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees who had sought sanctuary from the broader regional conflict," the authorities said.
From Sunday to Monday, strikes across Sudan killed more than 100 people. The country is engaged in a brutal war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in April 2023.
Both Sudan and South Sudan claim Abyei district. South Sudan split from its northern neighbor in 2011 following decades of conflict.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) controls parts of the district. It is a splinter from the organization that fought for South Sudan's independence. The group is split in two, and each faction supports opposite sides in Sudan's war.
South Sudan's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Sudanese ambassador over the attack, condemning it "in the strongest terms possible."
The ministry accused the Sudanese army of striking multiple locations within the market, used as a transit point for goods to areas controlled by the RSF.
Sudan's war, which multiple outside powers have fueled, has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Wave of strikes
The deadliest strike during the recent wave came near a market Sunday evening in al-Dibab town in the southwestern state of West Kordofan, controlled by the RSF.
Residents and medical workers said a drone struck a transport hub where villagers gathered after a market day to find rides home, killing 80 people.
Ahmed Abakar Wadi, a resident who helped bury victims, told AFP at least 50 bodies were recovered at the scene, including that of his brother.
Another 47 wounded people were taken to the nearby town of al-Mujlad where 30 later died of their injuries, according to a medical source.
"The drone struck once, and then came back 10 minutes later and struck again," Wadi told AFP.
The RSF's self-declared Tasis administration and the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers accused the army of carrying out Sunday's attack.
The military has not commented.
It was one of the deadliest attacks in Kordofan, an oil-rich region linking western and eastern Sudan where the army and the RSF have been battling for territory.
Strikes also hit the RSF stronghold of Nyala in South Darfur and the army-controlled capital Khartoum.
More than 1,100 people were killed in drone attacks across Sudan in the first half of this year, according to the United Nations.