Sudan/ Prime Minister, in a letter to the UN and security council, demands urgent international action to stop Egyptian attacks on civilians inside Sudan
NYALA — Press Office
The Prime Minister of the Transitional Peace Government, Mr. Mohamed Hassan Osman El-Taishi, submitted an urgent official letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the letter, he demanded immediate international action to protect Sudanese civilians, safeguard the country’s sovereignty, investigate airstrikes carried out by the Egyptian Armed Forces inside Sudanese territory, and ensure that those responsible do not escape punishment.
The letter stated that warplanes and drones belonging to the Egyptian Armed Forces launched airstrikes on Saturday, October 10, 2026, targeting traditional mining sites at the “Al-Aqeidat” mine near the “Al-Ansari” market in the Red Sea State inside Sudanese borders, in coordination with the forces led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and their military intelligence.
These airstrikes resulted in dozens of deaths, injuries, and missing persons among civilian workers, with more than thirty wounded people transferred to the Al-Ansari market to receive first aid. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers—most of whom hail from the Darfur and Kordofan regions and depend on mining for their daily livelihood—were forced to flee toward the surrounding mountains under extremely harsh and dangerous humanitarian and health conditions due to the lack of water and basic supplies.
The Prime Minister pointed out that this attack is an extension of similar attacks carried out by Egyptian forces on the same area in June 2026, which caused the death, injury, and disappearance of hundreds of workers and destroyed utility and mining facilities.
He noted that the repetition of these attacks necessitates an investigation addressing interconnected facts, operational planning, the chain of command, and aspects of coordination and participation, especially since the targets are civilian workers who rely on traditional mining to earn their living, and their geographical or social origins or economic activity do not constitute a legitimate basis for targeting them or undermining the protection guaranteed to them.
In his letter, the Prime Minister emphasized the Peace Government’s commitment to international principles and laws, clarifying the legal basis of the position. The letter added:
“The Egyptian bombardment is a blatant violation of Article 2 of the UN Charter and the definition of aggression contained in General Assembly Resolution 3314. Furthermore, the Geneva Conventions prohibit the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, as mining sites do not become military objectives merely due to their economic value.”
The Prime Minister stressed that any claim of cooperation arrangements with any party to the local conflict does not justify targeting civilians or exempt the executing forces from international accountability. He considered that these direct attacks constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity that warrant individual criminal prosecution for all those involved in planning, execution, and decision-making, and that the aggressor state bears full international responsibility for compensation, reparation of damages, and providing official guarantees of non-repetition.
The Prime Minister called on the United Nations to take urgent practical and institutional steps that go beyond merely expressing concern. These include:
providing an urgent briefing to the Security Council;
utilizing its powers under Article 99 of the Charter to hold an emergency session;
obliging the Egyptian authorities to immediately halt all military operations inside Sudanese territory and provide official clarifications regarding them.
The letter also demanded the establishment of an independent and impartial UN fact-finding commission of inquiry to determine those responsible for the October 10 attack and previous attacks, to secure all evidence including flight logs, military orders, satellite imagery, and remnants of ammunition, as well as to provide medical, food, and water assistance to the fleeing workers and search for the missing in coordination with humanitarian organizations.
Regarding judicial accountability, the Prime Minister’s letter called for exploring the referral of the file to the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute, and taking non-military measures available under Article 41 of the Charter to ensure the non-repetition of attacks and redress the damages suffered by victims and their families.
The Prime Minister concluded the letter by affirming the Transitional Peace Government’s full readiness to cooperate with the international commission of inquiry and facilitate access to victims and witnesses, while demanding that the letter be registered as an official UN document and referred to the relevant authorities.
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