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

Neither Egypt nor Sudan has commented on the alleged strikes on an artisanal mining camp on Saturday. 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 says. Emergency Lawyers, based in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, said jets targeted the so-called artisanal miners at a popular gold mining sites in Sudan's River Nile state on Saturday. Neither the Egyptian government nor the de facto Sudanese authorities have so far commented. 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 noted the previous alleged attacks and said 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 said in a statement on Sunday. "These acts may constitute war crimes." It noted that its death toll was provisional and could rise. The Paris-based Sudan Tribune reported that the death toll could far exceed the number reported by Emergency Lawyers, citing a survivor of Saturday's attack who said many more people had been injured. Eyewitnesses said the attack began around 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT),