Six Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers were killed on Sunday in a drone attack on a base in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan in southern Sudan, the UN peacekeeping mission in the region confirmed.
The town has been besieged by paramilitary forces in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Six others were injured in the attack, four of them seriously, according to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
Bangladesh strongly condemned the assault and called on the UN to ensure the best possible care for the wounded soldiers.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned the attack. “I strongly condemn the horrific drone strike targeting the UN logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan,” he said, urging all parties to the Sudan conflict to “immediately cease hostilities.”
The drone strike hit the UNISFA camp around 200 kilometres from Abyei, the mission told reporters, underlining the dangers faced by peacekeepers in the volatile region.
Since 15 April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a bloody civil war between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto leader following the 2021 coup, and the RSF. Tens of thousands have been killed, 12 million displaced, and the country is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
UNISFA currently deploys around 4,000 troops and police tasked with protecting civilians in the Abyei area, a resource-rich border region where fighting frequently flares.