72 Killed in Sudan-Egypt Border Mine Strike

At least 72 civilian gold miners died Saturday after airstrikes targeted an informal mining site along the disputed Sudan-Egypt border.

The Emergency Lawyers Rights organisation blamed the Egyptian air force for bombarding the mountainous Jabal al-Uqaydat region.

The attack marks the second strike on the site this year, following a June operation that killed 23 miners.

While Cairo has not officially commented on Saturday’s raid, the Egyptian military previously acknowledged conducting anti-smuggling operations against illegal gold mining in the border zone.

Survivors described chaotic scenes as jet fighters launched five separate strikes on the crowded remote site, causing thousands of workers to scatter across the mountains.

Fleeing miners reported seeing dozens of bodies strewn on the ground, with many more feared trapped under rubble hours away from emergency services.

The Sudanese rights group condemned the strikes as an unlawful intrusion into Sudanese territory, alleging that Egyptian authorities seek to seize control of the region’s rich mineral deposits.

The violent incident highlights growing security tensions along the porous 1,200-kilometre border between Egypt and war-torn Sudan.

Although Egypt politically backs the Sudanese army against the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict, Cairo views illegal mining, arms smuggling, and border insecurity as major threats to its national security.

Meanwhile, worsening economic conditions and humanitarian crises continue to drive thousands of vulnerable Sudanese workers into hazardous, unregulated gold mining.