Drone strike on Abyei market kills 153 as Sudan's army is blamed

Strike on a market near Abyei

A drone strike on Monday, 19 October 2026, hit the Amiet market north of the town of Abyei, in a border region that Sudan and South Sudan administer jointly and both claim. Yohanna Akol Ngor, the interim information minister of the local administration, put the death toll at 153 on Tuesday, 20 October, more than double the 73 first reported. According to witness accounts, one of the impact sites was a fuel depot, and the fire it started was still burning on Tuesday, making the recovery of bodies difficult. Ngor said about 8,000 people had been displaced by the bombing. He accused Sudan's army of carrying out the attack but offered no evidence for the charge.

The army's account

A senior Sudanese army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the military carried out a drone strike on Monday. He said the target was fuel tankers arriving from South Sudan that were meant for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the army. The officer claimed the dead were RSF members or people involved in fuel smuggling, and said the army does not target civilians. The Associated Press could not independently verify the officer's account of the targets or the identity of the victims. Insiders cited by Reuters said a fuel store at the market was the target, and a diplomat said the store had previously been used by the RSF to supply its troops.

Casualties and aid

The UN secretary-general condemned the drone attacks near the Amiet market and Todach on Tuesday, 20 October, and said dozens of civilians, including women and children, had been killed while many others were wounded. The UN did not formally assign responsibility to any party. Several people are still reported missing, which could push the toll higher. The UN peacekeeping force in Abyei, UNISFA, sent medical teams, firefighters and rapid response units to evacuate the wounded and limit the fire. Medecins Sans Frontieres said more than 20 wounded people had reached the Ameth Bek hospital, including people with severe injuries and burns. Its medical activities manager, Dr Christian Lindauer, described the situation at the hospital:

So far we received over 20 patients, including several critical cases. Patients with burns were also admitted.

A wider drone campaign

The Abyei strike is one of several drone attacks reported between 18 and 20 October. Sources cited by the Sudan War Observatory put the toll from strikes on the evening of 18 October at 150 in two areas of West Kordofan state. De Volkskrant reported that a truck carrying about 200 people to a funeral was hit at Al-Dabab, with dozens reportedly killed. AFP reported four deaths, three of them children, in drone strikes at and around Khartoum airport, which it attributed to the RSF. Other reports said drones believed to be operated by the army killed 19 people in a restaurant in eastern Darfur. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN was alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes across the country, which kill civilians including children, and said 20 million people face acute hunger, with a growing risk of famine in parts of Darfur and Greater Kordofan.

South Sudan's protest and the wider conflict

South Sudan's foreign ministry blamed the Sudanese army for the Amiet strike and summoned Sudan's ambassador to protest officially. Abyei, an oil-rich territory both countries claim, was not settled by the 2005 peace agreement that broadly ended decades of civil war in Sudan. BBC reporting fears the fighting could spread across the border. Despite a partial arms embargo on Sudan, foreign countries continue to supply drones to both the army and the RSF, which have become the weapon of choice in the conflict. The UN says more than 14 million people have been forced from their homes since fighting began in April 2023.