Sudan: At least 72 gold miners killed by airstrikes near the Egyptian border

At least 72 workers were killed on Saturday, October 10, 2026, by airstrikes on artisanal gold mining sites in the disputed border zone between Sudan and Egypt, south of the Halayeb Triangle and east of the Nile. The death toll was provided by the Sudanese human rights organization Emergency Lawyers, as cited by Deutsche Welle; the Sudan Doctors Network warns that the number is expected to rise further.

Emergency Lawyers accuses the Egyptian air force and places the targeted site within Sudanese territory, in mountainous terrain that is difficult to access. Cairo has not responded to this specific accusation but has acknowledged conducting a "large-scale operation" against illegal gold mining on its own soil, reports DW. The isolation of the area makes any independent verification very difficult.

A survivor interviewed by AFP, cited by the same source, claims that thousands of people were digging at the site at the time of the strikes, and that many scattered into the mountains: an exact count of the victims remains impossible.

A modus operandi already seen in 2026

This is not the first attack of this type this year. In June, strikes on mining sites in the same region were followed by a vast Egyptian security operation, during which hundreds of people, including foreigners, were arrested for illegal gold mining and smuggling, according to DW. On June 16, 2026, witnesses cited by the Kenyan daily The Standard described dawn bombings at the Jabal al-Aqaydat mine in eastern Sudan.

Gold, the lifeblood of a lasting war

The war between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left more than 200,000 dead, according to DW. The RSF reportedly finances its operations by smuggling large quantities of gold out of Darfur and Kordofan. The British think tank Chatham House estimates that up to 60% of the country's unofficial gold exports end up in Egypt.

The Halayeb Triangle, claimed by both Khartoum and Cairo, is known for gold mining, the gold trade, and other trafficking. Emergency Lawyers sees in this an Egyptian desire to "establish control" over Sudanese natural resources, an interpretation the NGO draws from the repetition of attacks in these mineral-rich areas.

Behind the numbers, there are Sudanese people who descend into pits with their bare hands to extract the metal that the continent almost always exports raw, and who die without anyone even being able to count them.