The airstrike on gold miners at the Sudan Egypt border killed at least 72 people, the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said on Sunday, reporting that the attack struck a gold mine near the frontier and that efforts to document and verify the casualty toll are ongoing. The organisation accused Egypt's air force of carrying out the attack. AFP could not independently confirm the account, and Egypt has issued no official comment on the strike.

What survivors describe

Miner Abdelaziz Youssef said a jet appeared overhead at around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) on Saturday and struck five times. He said he and others fled up the mountain fearing another strike.

Survivor Sharaf Ali said thousands of people were working at the remote site when it was hit. Speaking from the gold market just south of the Halayeb triangle, he said people had scattered after the airstrike, making a death toll difficult to establish.

Both survivors said they saw bodies on the ground as they fled, with many more feared trapped under the rubble at a site hours from any urban centre.

Second strike on the site

Saturday's attack was the second this year on Jabal al-Uqaydat. In June, airstrikes reportedly by Egypt killed 23 workers at the informal gold mining site.

The Egyptian army did not claim the strikes, but said at the time that it had conducted a "large-scale operation" against illegal gold mining within its borders. According to the army, that June operation:

• •was conducted within Egyptian territory
• •led to 223 people being detained, including 136 foreign nationals
• •was followed by an announced campaign to counter "illegal gold mining and arms smuggling"

A disputed border and a war next door

The Emergency Lawyers said the attack occurred within Sudanese territory. The organisation argued that repeated attacks on the gold- and mineral-rich border regions reflect a desire by Egyptian authorities to expand and assert control over Sudan's natural resources.

The border between Sudan and Egypt is itself disputed, with both countries claiming the resource-rich Halayeb triangle. The rugged, mountainous area, home to bountiful mineral deposits, stretches for hundreds of kilometres and includes that contested triangle.

Cairo is a key ally of Sudan's army, which has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since the conflict erupted. That war has killed more than 200,000 people since April 2023 and created a deep humanitarian crisis that has pushed many into the dangerous gold mining industry, which fuels both sides' war efforts.

Despite backing Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Egypt considers the 1,200-kilometre border, which stretches from the Red Sea to Libya, a major threat to its security. East of the Nile River, the porous border has for years been a thriving conduit for gold, illicit trade and human trafficking, which Egypt has tried to stem, including through mass deportations.

Efforts to document and verify the casualty toll are ongoing, and Egypt has issued no official comment on the Saturday strike.