Dozens of gold prospectors killed in strikes on Egypt-Sudan border, rights group says

At least 72 civilians who had been prospecting for gold in a border region of Sudan have been killed in air strikes, a regional rights group notes.

Key points

• Emergency Lawyers, based in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, remarked jets targeted the so-called artisanal miners at a popular gold mining sites in Sudan's River Nile state on Saturday.
• Egypt's border force remarked in June that it had seized 86 tonnes of gold ore along with amateur prospecting equipment.
• Neither the Egyptian administration nor the de facto Sudanese authorities have so far commented.
• This has triggered concern of illicit Sudanese gold undermining the legitimate Egyptian gold market.
• "The deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians violates international humanitarian law and the right to life, " it remarked in an official note on Sunday.

Cairo has previously faced accusations of deadly strikes on gold prospectors as part of a crackdown on illicit activity along its southern border.

Emergency Lawyers observed the previous alleged attacks and stated they represented not only a violation of Sudan's sovereign territory but demonstrated the government's lack of control over the region.

"The deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians violates international humanitarian law and the right to life, " it remarked in an official note on Sunday. "These acts may constitute war crimes." It observed that its death toll was provisional and could rise.

In practice, the Paris-based Sudan Tribune documented that the death toll could far exceed the number noted by Emergency Lawyers, citing a survivor of Saturday's attack who noted numerous more individuals had been injured.

Eyewitnesses remarked the attack began around 06: 00 local time (04: 00 GMT), with the aircraft firing more than five missiles directly at the miners' camps, destroying them and excavation pits with residents still inside, the newspaper wrote.

After sporadic incidents of Egyptian border guards of burning equipment, torching temporary shelters, and firing live ammunition to disperse mine workers, the Sudan Tribune documented claims in June that Egyptian forces had employed drones and artillery to target artisanal mining sites in the same region, killing a number of.

Days afterwards, Egypt's border agency unveiled that it and the military had begun a sweeping security campaign along the border to foil illegal migration, drug smuggling and illegal mining.

Meanwhile, Sudan's de facto leader confirmed an investigation into the alleged strikes. It were stated to have killed dozens. Gold lies at the core of the border tensions.

Sudan's ongoing civil war has led to a surge in artisanal mining – an often risky practice conducted by civilians with rudimentary tools and without official permission – particularly in remote areas near its borders.

Gold-rich areas such as those in River Nile state lie along porous borders in terrain historically associated with cross-border smuggling routes, with artisanally mined gold potentially feeding into those channels.

Artisanal mining has additionally reportedly continued in Sudan's conflict zones and smuggled gold may be a source of income for armed insurgent groups.

In short, dozens of gold prospectors killed in strikes on Egypt-Sudan border, rights group is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.