A drone attack on a market in Abyei, a border region disputed by South Sudan and Sudan, has killed at least 153 people, according to a South Sudanese official.
The Abyei administration’s caretaker minister of information on Tuesday blamed the attack, which took place a day earlier on Amiet Market, north of Abyei town, on Sudan’s military.
Yohanna Akol Ngor said fires continued to burn at the site and that the death toll was likely to rise.He told the news agency Reuters that the “situation is terrible”, adding that some bodies had been burned to ashes.
Blaming the Sudanese military for the attack, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said drones hit several locations in the market.
It said it has summoned Sudan’s ambassador and called for its northern neighbour to “refrain” from acts that endanger civilian lives and property. There was no immediate comment from Sudan’s armed forces.
A senior Sudanese officer, who spoke anonymously to The Associated Press news agency, said the army struck fuel tankers coming from South Sudan that were headed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
He added that those killed in the attack were RSF members and fuel smugglers, saying the military does not “target civilians”.