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Drone strike on market in Abyei kills more than 150, local officials say

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 7 outlets across the spectrum.

10 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Women and a man in traditional dress view a bombed, rubble-strewn building in Sudan.
Image via Al Jazeera EnglishHow images are chosenReport this image

A drone strike on a market in Abyei, a border region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, killed at least 153 people on Monday, according to local officials, and hit a nearby fuel depot, starting a fire that was still burning on Tuesday. Local and South Sudanese authorities said Sudan’s army carried out the strike; BBC reported the attack as allegedly carried out by the army, citing sources. Médecins Sans Frontières said it was treating 20 wounded people. Local officials said the toll was likely to rise. One BBC report, citing sources, put the toll above 200 and described strikes on mourners and a fuel market.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region killed at least 150 people on Monday, according to local officials.

    Reported byLeft2Center3Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English, The New York Times
    Center
    France 24, Deutsche Welle, Sky News
    Right
    The Washington Times

  2. The strike hit a fuel depot beside the market and started a fire that was still burning on Tuesday.

    Reported byCenter3Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Center
    France 24, Deutsche Welle, Sky News
    Right
    The Washington Times

  3. Local and South Sudanese authorities said Sudan’s army carried out the strike.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    France 24, Deutsche Welle

  4. Local officials said the death toll was likely to rise.

    One outletFrance 24· Center

  5. Médecins Sans Frontières said it was treating 20 wounded people.

    One outletAl Jazeera English· Left

  6. One BBC report, citing sources, put the toll above 200 and said the strikes hit mourners and a fuel market.

    One outletBBC News· Center

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • The strike killed more than 200 people.

    BBC, citing sources, reports more than 200 killed in strikes on mourners and a fuel market; other outlets, citing local officials, report at least 150 to 153 killed in a strike on the Abyei market.

  • Sudan’s army carried out the strike.

    Local and South Sudanese authorities say the army did; BBC reports the attribution as allegedly made by sources.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report a drone strike on an Abyei market that killed at least 150 people, and local officials blame Sudan’s army. Left outlets set it within Sudan’s civil war and drone attacks on civilians; center and right outlets stick mainly to the toll and the fuel-depot fire.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left headlines name the location and a toll of 150 or more in plain terms; the New York Times frames the strike within Sudan’s civil war and the use of drones against civilians.

    Drone attack in disputed Sudan-South Sudan border region kills at least 153
    Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    4 outlets

    Center headlines state the toll and disputed location plainly, with figures from around 150 to over 200; the BBC headline gives the higher figure on sources’ word.

    At least 153 people killed in drone strike on disputed Sudan-South Sudan region
    Sky NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The only right-side article, from The Washington Times, gives a plain headline naming the disputed region and at least 153 killed, with the figure attributed to a local official in its description.

    Drone strike on a market in disputed African region of Abyei kills at least 153
    The Washington TimesRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read all 10 articles in context. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the drone attack as a tactic in Sudan’s civil war
  • civilian toll and border location
  • South Sudan authorities’ attribution to Sudan’s army
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

4 outlets

Leads with

  • death toll figures
  • the disputed Abyei location
  • blame placed on Sudan’s army by local officials
See the 4 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the disputed Abyei region
  • the fire at the fuel depot
  • the figure given by a local official
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Washington TimesRight

    Drone strike on a market in disputed African region of Abyei kills at least 153

    A drone strike on a market in Abyei, a border region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, hit a nearby fuel depot, killing at least 153 people and igniting a fire that was still burning Tuesday, a local official said.

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    Al Jazeera English, Oct 19, 5:38 PM EDT

  • Center

    16 hr 46 min later

    Its first report, Oct 20, 10:24 AM EDT

  • Right

    17 hr 53 min later

    Its first report, Oct 20, 11:31 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 19, 5:38 PM EDT
  2. BBC NewsCenterOct 20, 10:24 AM EDT
  3. The Washington TimesRightOct 20, 11:31 AM EDT
  4. France 24CenterOct 20, 12:24 PM EDT
  5. Deutsche WelleCenterOct 20, 2:09 PM EDT
  6. Sky NewsCenterOct 21, 4:48 AM EDT
  7. The New York TimesLeftOct 21, 11:32 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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