Khartoum denies role in Abyei attack as RSF allies seek probe

Sudan’s army-aligned government has denied that its armed forces carried out a deadly drone strike on Amiet Common Market in the disputed Abyei region, while the RSF-aligned Government of Peace has called for an international investigation into the attack.

Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) had no involvement in the October 19 attack on the market, a major trading centre serving the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities.

“The Sudanese Armed Forces have absolutely no connection to this unfortunate incident,” the ministry said in a statement, expressing condolences to the victims’ families and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

South Sudanese officials have blamed Sudan’s military for the attack. Abyei officials initially reported that at least 73 people had been killed and 19 wounded, before raising the death toll to 153. The victims included Sudanese, South Sudanese and foreign nationals, according to the officials, who said the dead were buried in two mass graves.

The attack has heightened tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. Following the incident, South Sudan summoned Sudan’s ambassador to Juba to protest the deadly drone strike.

The Sudanese ministry did not provide evidence to support its denial or detail the circumstances of the attack. It also accused the RSF of carrying out other attacks, including a December 2025 assault on a United Nations peacekeeping camp in Kadugli, South Kordofan, which it said killed several members of the Bangladeshi contingent.

The RSF and the Sudanese army have been at war since April 2023 in a conflict that has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

UN probe sought

The RSF-aligned Government of Peace has filed a complaint with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, seeking an investigation into the attack and the identification of those responsible, its foreign minister told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday.

Ammar Amoun Deldoum, the group’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said the complaint was submitted on October 19 through the group’s permanent representative to the United Nations. It was addressed to the mission’s chair and members through its secretariat at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he said.

Amoun accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of striking the market in Abyei with drones. He said the complaint called on investigators to establish the circumstances of the attack, determine criminal responsibility, preserve evidence and protect witnesses.

“We asked specifically to investigate the incident, collect evidence, analyse it, preserve it and determine the responsible parties as soon as possible,” Amoun said.

He said the Government of Peace had established a local committee to gather information from traders, survivors and market workers.

Amoun said the market is a civilian trading centre and a source of livelihood for local communities. He added that there had been no military presence in the demilitarised area of Abyei.

“The market is the source of livelihood for many citizens. They depend on the market in their lives,” he said.

Amoun said the committee had also found documents belonging to foreign traders, including Pakistanis and Somalis, but did not provide details of foreign nationals believed to have been killed.

“We hope that the Human Rights Council will gather all the evidence and use it to authenticate the number of foreigners killed in the incident,” he said.

Amoun said the complaint sought an independent investigation, with findings submitted to relevant United Nations bodies. He acknowledged that the fact-finding process would not itself constitute a final judicial ruling.

He also urged the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to document evidence relating to the attack.

UN condemnation

The United Nations has condemned the October 19 drone attacks in the Abyei area, saying civilians, including women and children, were killed and others wounded.

The UN said the casualty toll was expected to rise as peacekeepers continued to verify the number of victims.

Abyei, an oil-rich region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, remains disputed, with its final status unresolved.

The conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF has devastated large parts of the country since it erupted in April 2023, forcing millions from their homes and disrupting access to food, healthcare and other essential services.

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