UN chief condemns ‘horrific’ drone attack in Sudan as 6 peacekeepers killed

A drone attack has hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan, killing six peacekeepers, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

The attack on Saturday hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement.

Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

“I strongly condemn the horrific drone attacks that targeted the United Nations peacekeeping logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan,” Guterres said in a statement.

“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” he added. “Attacks as the one today in South Kordofan against peacekeepers are unjustifiable. There will need to be accountability.”

The Sudanese army blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group. The army and the RSF have been engaged in a civil war for more than two years.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The attack “clearly reveals the subversive approach of the rebel militia and those behind it”, the Sudanese army said in a statement. The military posted a video on social media showing plumes of dense black smoke over what it said was the UN facility.

Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, in a statement, said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack, and put the toll at six dead and eight wounded.

He asked the UN to ensure that his country’s personnel were offered “any necessary emergency support”.

“The government of Bangladesh will stand by the families in this difficult moment,” Yunus added.

The oil-rich Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan. The UN mission has been deployed there since 2011, when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.

Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow “a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process” to settle the conflict.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, though rights groups consider the figure  a significant undercount.

The fighting has recently centred on Kodrofan, particularly since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

The war has wrecked urban areas and has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings, which the UN and rights groups have said amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur.

The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine.

The attack comes just a month after the UN Security Council voted to renew the UNISFA peacekeeping mission for another year.

Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions, and its troops have long been deployed in Abyei.

UNISFA’s 4,000 police and soldiers are tasked with protecting civilians in the region, which has been plagued by frequent armed clashes.