KHARTOUM: A drone strike by the Sudanese army killed 53 people at a market in an area disputed between Sudan and South Sudan, local authorities said on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of deadly attacks.

Authorities in Abyei district said the strike hit Amiet market on Monday.

They accused the army of launching 22 munitions during the attack, which also wounded at least 27 people.

“The casualties comprise vulnerable civilian populations, including women, children, the elderly, local merchants, members of the host Ngok Dinka community, South Sudanese returnees, and Sudanese refugees who had sought sanctuary from the broader regional conflict,” the authorities said.

The United Nations condemned the attacks in Abyei, “where at least 28 civilians were killed at Amiet Market, with many injured and many unaccounted for,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, calling escalating drone strikes “part of a deeply concerning pattern”.

On Sunday and Monday, strikes across Sudan killed more than 100 people. The country is in the grips of a brutal war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in April 2023.

Abyei district is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, which split from its northern neighbour in 2011 following decades of conflict. Parts of the district are controlled by a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a splinter from the organisation that fought for Juba’s independence.

Juba’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Sudanese ambassador over the attack. It accused the Sudanese army of striking multiple locations within the market, which is used as a transit point for goods to areas controlled by the RSF.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2026