Six UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh were killed and eight others injured in a drone attack on a UN base in Sudan on Saturday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
The drone strike hit a logistics camp of the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned “unwarranted” attack and said such attacks “may constitute war crimes under international law.”
Sudan’s government and military blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack.
Army chief of staff General Abdel Fattah Burhan called the attack a “dangerous escalation”.
However, RSF dismissed the allegations as “false allegations” in a statement on Telegram.
Bangladesh Army says ‘situation still unstable’
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the attack and urged the United Nations to provide emergency assistance to Bangladeshi personnel.
“The Bangladesh government will stand with the families in this difficult moment,” Yunus said.
The Bangladesh Army issued a statement saying that “the situation in the area is still volatile and clashes with terrorists are ongoing.”
The statement said authorities are making every possible effort to provide medical care to the injured and conduct rescue operations.
humanitarian crisis in sudan
Sudan has been ravaged by civil war between the army and RSF militias since April 2023.
The war has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, killing thousands, displacing millions and pushing parts of the country into famine.
Efforts to end the war have so far failed.
Last month, US President Donald Trump said he would work to end the conflict after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington, but no concrete steps were taken.
Edited by: Rana Taha