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Air strikes hit gold mines near Sudan-Egypt border, killing dozens, miners say
Emergency Lawyers said the strike killed 72 miners and warned the toll could rise as wounded workers faced limited access to care.
On Saturday, an airstrike in Northern Sudan killed at least 72 artisanal miners, according to the Sudan-based Emergency Lawyers, in an attack near the disputed border with Egypt.
The incident occurred south of the remote Halayeb triangle, east of the River Nile, where Northern Sudan has seen a surge in makeshift mines as the conflict disrupts livelihoods and gold becomes a key cash source.
Emergency Lawyers blamed the Egyptian air force for the strike, while the Sudan Doctors Network warned that casualties may rise "due to the severity of some injuries and the difficulties in accessing medical care and essential services in the region."
Egypt has not commented on the incident, though it previously admitted conducting a "large-scale operation" against illegal mining, while Chatham House reports as much as 60% of unofficial gold exports end up in Egypt.
Sudan's three-and-a-half-year civil war has killed more than 200,000 people; on Friday, a separate drone strike killed 31 people at a displacement camp in Blue Nile, illustrating the conflict's escalating intensity.
At least 72 miners have died in a mining area in northern Sudan, near the border with Egypt, following a bombing carried out by "Egyptian war planes", as reported by the NGO Emergency Lawyers. "Egyptian war planes have attacked civilian miners in the North Wadi area, inside Sudanese territory, causing the death of 72 civilians," the organization has reported on social networks, citing preliminary information.Keep reading....