Copernicus Sentinel satellite image of Amiet market in the Abyei area on October 21, 2026, two days after the drone strike, with the damaged market area outlined. Image: AfriMEOSINT via X (Copernicus Sentinel data)
Sudan's army-aligned government denies that its forces carried out the October 19 drone strike on Amiet market in disputed Abyei, where local officials say at least 153 people were killed, Ethiopians among them.
"The Sudanese Armed Forces have absolutely no connection to this unfortunate incident," Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday, according to Radio Tamazuj. The ministry offered condolences to the families of the dead, but it gave no evidence for its denial and did not explain what happened at the market. It also accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the army since April 2023, of carrying out other attacks in the region.
Amiet is a large trading center north of Abyei town that serves both the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities. Yohana Akol Ngor, the caretaker information minister of the Abyei administration, said the victims included Sudanese, South Sudanese, Ethiopians and Somalis, and that 19 people were taken to hospital, AFP reported. Abyei officials also said the dead were buried in two mass graves, according to Radio Tamazuj. He blamed the Sudanese army for the attack, without giving evidence, and said the toll was likely to rise. Sudans Post reported on Friday that local authorities now put the number of dead at 220.
The United Nations has given a lower figure while its peacekeepers continue to count. The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) said at least 80 people were killed and 27 wounded in the drone strikes near Amiet and Todach, and that its troops had doubled their patrols in the area, Sudan Tribune reported. UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the attacks, saying civilians, including women and children, were among the dead.
People who were there described a scene of fire. A witness who asked not to be named told the news agencies that he heard five large explosions, after which a fuel depot nearby caught fire. "People started evacuating the casualties. They had injuries from shrapnel on their stomach and legs," the witness said, according to the Guardian. "In one site, I saw 28 bodies that were burnt." Doctors Without Borders said more than 20 wounded people, including several in critical condition and patients with burns, were brought to Ameth Bek hospital.
On X, Ayin Network, a Sudanese news outlet, said it had first counted 50 deaths before the Abyei administration raised the toll to 153. Satellite images posted on X on Thursday by the open source analyst AfriMEOSINT, using Copernicus data from October 21, showed what it called "extensive damage" across the market. AfriMEOSINT, which blamed the Sudanese army, gave the location of the market and outlined the burned area in the image.
Earlier this week a senior Sudanese military officer, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the army had carried out the strike, targeting fuel tankers bound for the RSF, and that "we do not target civilians." The AP said it could not verify his account. A military source gave the BBC a similar account. Both conflict with the Foreign Ministry's flat denial. The RSF-aligned administration, which calls itself the Government of Peace, said it had filed a complaint with the UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan on October 19. Its foreign minister, Ammar Amoun Deldoum, told Radio Tamazuj that a local committee had found documents belonging to foreign traders, including Pakistanis and Somalis, and that there was no military presence at the market. South Sudan, which also blames the Sudanese army, summoned Sudan's ambassador in Juba to protest.
For Ethiopians, Abyei is not a distant place. From its creation in 2011, the UN force in Abyei was made up almost entirely of Ethiopian troops, until the UN agreed in 2021 to Sudan's request to replace them amid a border dispute between the two countries. The Ethiopian contingent left in 2022. Mereja could not find any public statement from Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on how many Ethiopians were killed or hurt at Amiet, or on who they were. Mereja has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The strike came in a week of deadly drone attacks in Sudan's war. A day earlier, a drone strike near a market in West Kordofan killed 80 people, most of them people catching rides home, the Guardian reported. On Friday, October 16, an attack on a market in Nyala killed 23 people and injured 44, according to volunteers there, the paper said.
Sources
- Radio Tamazuj, "Khartoum denies role in Abyei attack as RSF allies seek probe," October 23, 2026
- Radio Tamazuj (@RadioTamazuj) on X
- AFP via Arab News, "Death toll from Sudan army strike in disputed territory rises to 153: local authority"
- The Guardian (with agencies), "Drone strike kills more than 150 at market in Sudanese war," October 21, 2026
- AP, "Drone strike on market in Abyei kills at least 153"
- Sudans Post (@SudansPost) on X
- Sudan Tribune (@SudanTribune_EN) on X: 1, 2
- Ayin Network (@AyinSudan) on X
- AfriMEOSINT (@AfriMEOSINT) on X, satellite images
- AP via ABC News, "Drone strike on a market in disputed African region of Abyei kills at least 153"
- BBC, "Sudan army drones hit mourners and fuel market killing more than 300 people, sources say"
- Xinhua, "Sudan says UN agrees to replace Ethiopian forces within UNISFA," January 19, 2022