Sudan's ruling Sovereignty Council has set up a fact-finding committee to investigate airstrikes that struck a gold mining area in the country's far north near the Egyptian border, killing dozens of artisanal miners. The decision, announced by army chief and council head Abdel-Fattah Burhan about three days after the attack, followed widespread anger in Sudan. The committee will include representatives of the public prosecution, judicial bodies and the security services, and is to report its findings. Burhan called the incident "painful" and said protecting Sudanese citizens was a core duty of the state.

The death toll remains unclear and could not be independently verified. The Emergency Lawyers rights group estimated 72 dead, while witnesses told the BBC and The New York Times that at least 60 to 65 miners were killed and 120 to 150 wounded. One advocacy group cited far higher figures of around 200 dead, which have not been confirmed. Survivors described fighter jets circling before bombs hit the Aqeedat mine near the Ansari market. One witness said about 35 miners died in the first strike and more than 20 wounded men died while being evacuated, in a region with almost no medical care. Sources differ on the date, with some saying Friday and others Saturday. The precise location is also unclear: some accounts place it in the Red Sea state, others in River Nile state.

Many miners, Sudanese rights groups and political bodies blame Egypt, which has not directly responded to the accusation. Video analysis cited by The New York Times suggested unexploded munitions resembling an Egyptian NASR 400 bomb. The Egyptian army said it was carrying out the "third phase" of a campaign against illegal gold prospecting in the Eastern Desert, that it had dropped warning leaflets, and that it acted only inside Egyptian territory. It did not address the allegations of strikes on Sudanese soil. In a phone call, the Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers stressed mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, without mentioning the strikes. Sudanese official statements have avoided naming a culprit, although a presidential adviser called the attack on miners an unjustified crime.

The area is a remote desert stretch where dry valleys and mountain tracks lack clear border markers, so miners can easily cross unknowingly. Similar reports emerged in June, when miners accused Egyptian forces of attacking a nearby site and Burhan promised an investigation. Sudanese opposition and rights groups, including the alliance led by former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and the RSF-led parallel alliance, have demanded an independent inquiry. Online, some Egyptian voices defend the measures as protecting national resources from unlicensed mining.

The case matters because artisanal mining has become a lifeline in a country devastated by the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023. Official reports say the sector normally employs around six million people, and the war has pushed many displaced people into it. The attack also strains ties between the army and Egypt, long seen as its close ally.