A drone strike targeted a United Nations logistics base in Sudan on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of six peacekeepers and wounding eight others. The attack occurred in the city of Kadugli, located in the central Kordofan region.
All casualties are reported to be members of the Bangladeshi contingent serving with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). The UN Secretary-General condemned the strike as “unjustifiable” and warned that such assaults on peacekeeping personnel could be considered war crimes under international law. He called for those responsible to be held accountable.
The Sudanese military has publicly accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying out the attack, labeling it a subversive act. The RSF has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident.
The UN mission is stationed in the oil-rich Abyei area, a territory contested by Sudan and South Sudan, and has been operational since South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
This latest violence comes amid a wider call from the UN for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate a political resolution to Sudan’s conflict. The war, which erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the national army and the RSF, has devastated the country. The fighting has recently intensified in the Kordofan region.
The conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, widespread atrocities, and has triggered what is described as the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis, with parts of the nation facing famine.