Dozens of workers were killed in airstrikes on a gold mine in northern Sudan near the Egyptian border over the weekend, according to Sudanese rights groups, eyewitness accounts, and video evidence from the scene. The open-air mine, located roughly 40 kilometers from the Egypt-Sudan border in Red Sea State, appears to have been targeted by Egyptian military forces, although the attack took place in an area controlled by Sudan’s military and largely unaffected by the country’s ongoing civil war.

Emergency Lawyers, a local rights group, estimated the death toll at 72, with eyewitnesses reporting at least 65 fatalities and over 120 injured. Graphic footage circulating online depicted severely wounded civilians and scattered bodies of young miners amid sacks of mineral ore. One miner, Saif Eldin Adam, 26, a student at Sudan University of Science and Technology who had been working at the mine for three months, described the aftermath as horrific, saying he assisted in rescuing the wounded and recovering the dead. Another witness, Bahar Eldin Hassan, recounted warplanes and helicopters conducting multiple attack runs over the site starting around 9 a.m. on Saturday, with at least three bombing strikes during an hour-long assault.

The mine is part of Sudan’s sizable artisanal gold mining industry, which supports thousands but also is fraught with hazardous conditions and widespread rights abuses. Gold revenue is a vital financial resource for both sides in Sudan’s protracted civil conflict, with the military previously targeting mines controlled by rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in southern regions.

While Sudanese media and human rights organizations have attributed the strikes to Egypt, Cairo denies carrying out any cross-border attacks. Egypt’s military spokesman stated that its forces are engaged in a “major campaign” to combat illegal gold mining in the Eastern Desert within Egyptian territory, backed by leaflets warning “criminal elements” to stop mining activities. He asserted that operations remain strictly on Egyptian soil. The Sudanese military has reacted cautiously; on Monday, General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan ordered an investigation into the incident, describing it as “painful” without directly blaming any party.

The attack is notable given that it occurred well away from Sudan’s active combat zones and targeted poor, mostly young miners laboring in remote conditions. Video analysts identified ordnance consistent with Egyptian military munitions at the site, including what appeared to be an unexploded NASR 400 bomb, a weapon reportedly used by Egypt.

This incident follows June strikes on mines in the same border area, after which Egyptian forces distributed leaflets warning miners they could face immediate attack if they remained. Despite the risks, miners like Hassan, who supports a large family, said they have little alternative but to continue their work, underscoring the economic reliance on mineral extraction amid the country’s broader crisis.

The exact location of the Saturday strikes remains difficult to verify independently due to the region’s vast and rugged terrain, but multiple videos and local reports corroborate the timing and scale of the attack. Sudan’s gold mining sector continues to play a complex role in the conflict, intertwining economic survival with the broader geopolitical tensions between Sudan and Egypt.