The Amiet market, north of the town of Abyei, was hit by drones on Monday, 19 October. Two days later the local administration was counting at least 153 dead — and warning that the number was likely to rise, because the fire at the fuel depot that was struck was still burning and some of the bodies cannot be identified.
"The fire is still burning, so the recovery process of the dead ones is still continuing," said Yohana Akol Ngor, caretaker minister of information for the Abyei administration, who also puts the number of displaced people at around 8,000.
What was hit
Three diplomatic sources, an aid worker and a conflict expert told Reuters that the target was a fuel depot inside the market, used in the past by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to supply their fighters.
A witness interviewed by the agency said he heard five large explosions before the depot caught fire, and that he saw 28 burnt bodies at a single spot. He added that there were no uniformed fighters in the market.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was treating more than 20 wounded people at Ameth Bek Hospital, some of them with severe burns.
Who is accused, and what Sudan says
South Sudan attributed the attack to the Sudanese army. Its foreign ministry said drones had hit several points in the market, summoned Sudan's ambassador and urged its neighbour to stop putting civilians at risk.
Sudan's armed forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A senior Sudanese officer told the Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, that the military had struck fuel tankers coming from South Sudan and bound for the RSF, and that those killed were members of the group and fuel smugglers. The army, he said, does not "target civilians." The RSF did not comment either.
The UN counts more than 250 dead in a matter of days
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, condemned the drone attacks near the Amiet market and Todach and said dozens of civilians, among them women and children, had been killed — without naming who was responsible.
"We remain alarmed by the relentless drone attacks across Sudan," he said, adding that the strikes are taking a devastating toll on communities. The UN estimates that attacks in recent days have killed more than 250 people, says many remain missing, and reports that the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) is still verifying the number of victims.
Why Abyei
Abyei has been claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan since the latter's independence in 2011, and is jointly administered by the two countries, with UNISFA deployed in the territory. It is an oil-rich region and borders Kordofan, in Sudan, one of the main centres of the fighting.
The Sudanese army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023, in a conflict that has produced one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. South Sudan says it has not taken sides, but diplomats say Abyei has become an important route for fuel supplies reaching the RSF.
That logistical detail is what explains how a market became a target: in a conflict where both sides depend on drones and on fuel hauled in from far away, the place where the fuel is stored acquires military value — and it is surrounded by people who have nothing to do with the war.
With information from Al Jazeera, ABC News (Australia), Reuters and the Associated Press.
