PRAYER NEED
Drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region kills at least 153
Médecins Sans Frontières via Reuters, via NBC News
What happened
A drone strike hit a crowded market in the Abyei region, an area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan that both countries claim, around midday on Monday, 19 October, killing at least 153 people, Abyei’s caretaker information minister, Yohana Akol Ngor, told Reuters. The first count was 73, and officials said the toll was likely to rise. The strike hit a fuel depot beside the market, starting a fire that was still burning on Tuesday. Médecins Sans Frontières said it was treating more than 20 wounded, some of them with burns, at Ameth Bek hospital. Abyei officials and South Sudan’s government blamed Sudan’s army, which did not respond; responsibility has not been independently established.
Families in the Abyei region are mourning more than 150 people killed when a drone struck a busy market, and many of the wounded are being treated for burns.
People affected
- Lives lost
- At least 153
- People injured
- At least 20
Pray for
- Families of the more than 150 people who were killed
- The wounded, many of them burned, and the MSF teams and hospital staff caring for them
- Traders and families in Abyei who have lost their livelihoods
- An end to the war in Sudan, and protection for civilians in the border region
2 people have pledged to pray