Drone attack in disputed Sudan-South Sudan border region kills at least 153

South Sudan authorities say Sudan’s army launched drone attack on market, as MSF says it is treating 20 wounded people.

Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Staff2026-10-21 08:25查看原文 ↗

South Sudan authorities say Sudan’s army launched a drone attack on a market, as MSF says it is treating 20 wounded people, some with severe burns.

Medical workers treat injured people at a hospital after a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan, October 19, 2026 [Handout/MSF via Reuters]

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.

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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”.

Unnamed diplomats told Reuters the strike hit a fuel depot in the market the RSF has used in the past to supply its fighters.

There was no immediate comment on the attack from the RSF.

In a statement on Tuesday, the United Nations secretary-general’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, condemned drone attacks near Amiet Market and Todach, saying dozens of civilians, including women and children, had been killed and many others injured. The statement did not identify who carried out the attacks.

The UN said many people remained missing and the death toll was likely to rise as the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) continued verifying casualties.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said it was treating more than 20 wounded people, some with severe burns.

The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has ignited a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country.

South Sudan says it has not taken sides, but diplomats say Abyei has become a key route for RSF fuel supplies.

Abyei is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, and is jointly administered. The oil-rich region borders Sudan’s Kordofan area, which has become a major centre of fighting in the war.

南苏丹当局称苏丹军队对一个市场发动了无人机袭击，无国界医生组织表示正在救治 20 名伤者，其中一些人严重烧伤。

2026年10月19日，在南苏丹和苏丹边境有争议的阿卜耶伊地区，无人机袭击了一个市场，医务人员在医院救治伤者。[图片由无国界医生组织通过路透社提供]

据南苏丹一名官员称，无人机袭击了南苏丹和苏丹存在争议的边境地区阿卜耶伊的一个市场，造成至少 153 人死亡。

阿卜耶伊政府的代理新闻部长周二将前一天发生在阿卜耶伊镇北部阿米特市场的袭击事件归咎于苏丹军方。

苏丹军方声称在尼亚拉袭击事件中数十名快速支援部队战士丧生（共4条记录，此为第1条）

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苏丹无人机袭击事件升级，四起袭击事件中有三起造成160人死亡

列表 4/4：苏丹-南苏丹边境附近的阿卜耶伊市场遭无人机袭击，造成 150 人死亡

Yohanna Akol Ngor表示，现场火势仍在蔓延，死亡人数可能还会上升。

他告诉路透社，“情况非常糟糕”，并补充说，一些尸体已被烧成灰烬。

南苏丹外交与国际合作部指责苏丹军方发动了此次袭击，称无人机袭击了市场内的多个地点。该部表示已召见苏丹大使，并呼吁其北方邻国“停止”采取任何危及平民生命和财产的行为。

苏丹军方尚未对此发表评论。