Deadly gold mine air strikes highlight Egypt-Sudan border insecurity

An alleged air strike on a gold mining site in northern Sudan has killed at least 72 workers, according to a rights group, highlighting the severe security vacuum along the country’s increasingly lawless border with Egypt.The Khartoum-based rights group Emergency Lawyers accused the Egyptian military of targeting civilian miners in the North Wadi area of Jabal al-Uqaydat, a mountainous border area between Sudan and Egypt.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Could conflict in Ethiopia expand across the region?list 2 of 3Ethiopia, Eritrea ramp up rhetoric: Are they inching towards war?list 3 of 3At least 72 Sudanese miners killed in air strike: Rights monitorend of listEgypt has not commented on the incident.Images allegedly from the site and shared by rights monitors showed chaotic scenes, with bodies wrapped in funeral shrouds.A troubled borderThe border region between Sudan and Egypt has a long history of tensions which continue to this day.In 1899, the British and Egyptian governments designated the 22nd parallel north as the dividing boundary between Sudan and Egypt on maps.But the absence of physical border demarcation along this line, coupled with the area’s gold weal...