72 Killed in Airstrike on Gold Mine Along Sudan-Egypt Border

At least 72 workers have been killed in an airstrike on a gold mine along the Sudan-Egypt border, according to a Sudanese rights organisation, as survivors recounted scenes of panic and a desperate escape from the remote mining site.

The Emergency Lawyers rights organisation accused the Egyptian air force of carrying out Saturday’s attack, but AFP said it could not independently verify the account. Egypt has yet to issue an official comment on the reported strike.

The incident marks the second deadly attack this year on Jabal al-Uqaydat, an informal gold mining site in the disputed border region. Airstrikes reportedly carried out by Egypt killed 23 workers at the location in June.

Although the Egyptian army did not claim responsibility for those strikes, it said at the time that it had conducted a “large-scale operation” against illegal gold mining within its territory.

In its latest statement, Emergency Lawyers said the Saturday attack killed dozens of civilian miners, with efforts to establish the exact number of casualties still underway.

“The attack on Saturday “resulted in the deaths of 72 civilian miners, according to preliminary information, while efforts to document and verify the casualty toll are ongoing,” said the Emergency Lawyers, which documents atrocities in Sudan’s war.

Two survivors told AFP how they fled the site as the airstrike unfolded.

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Miner Abdelaziz Youssef said an aircraft appeared overhead at about 8:00 am on Saturday before launching repeated attacks.

A jet appeared overhead at around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) on Saturday and “struck five times, many people were killed”, he said.

“We ran up the mountain terrified of another strike,” Youssef told AFP.

Another survivor, Sharaf Ali, said thousands of people were working at the remote mining site when it was hit.

“After the airstrike people scattered, some people came to Al-Ansary market, others went in the other direction, that’s why no one knows how many exactly were killed,” he said from the gold market, south of the disputed Halayeb triangle.

Both survivors said they saw bodies as they escaped, while many others were feared trapped beneath the rubble. The remote location, several hours from an urban centre, complicated efforts to establish the full scale of the casualties.

The border region has become a major destination for informal gold miners amid Sudan’s devastating conflict, which began in April 2023. The war has killed more than 200,000 people and triggered a severe humanitarian crisis, forcing many people into dangerous mining activities that help finance both sides.

The mountainous area contains substantial mineral deposits and stretches across hundreds of kilometres, including the disputed Halayeb triangle, claimed by both Sudan and Egypt.

Emergency Lawyers maintained that the latest attack occurred inside Sudanese territory and accused Egyptian authorities of seeking greater control over the region’s natural resources.

“The repeated attacks on the gold- and mineral-rich border regions reflect a desire by Egyptian authorities to expand and assert control over Sudan’s natural resources,” the organisation said.

However, the Egyptian army said its operation in June took place “within Egyptian territory”.

It reported detaining 223 people, including 136 foreign nationals, during the operation and announced a campaign against “illegal gold mining and arms smuggling” in the area.

Egypt is a key ally of Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the conflict against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Nevertheless, the war along its 1,200-kilometre border, stretching from the Red Sea to Libya, remains a major security concern for Cairo.

The porous frontier east of the Nile has for years served as a route for gold, illicit trade and human trafficking. Egypt has sought to curb these activities, including through mass deportations.