Unmanned Attack on UN Compound in Conflict-Ravaged Sudan Leaves 6 UN Personnel

A drone strike targeted a United Nations logistics base in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of six peacekeepers, as stated by a declaration.

The strike occurred at a UN outpost in the city of Kadugli, located in the central region of Kordofan.

Eight additional personnel were injured in the strike. Each of the those affected are Bangladeshi nationals, deployed with the UN interim security force for Abyei (Unisfa).

“Assaults targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under global statutes,” it was declared, calling for those responsible for the “unacceptable” attack to be prosecuted.

Army Accuses Fighter Group

The national army blamed the incident on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a well-known armed faction that has been fighting with the government troops for power in the country for since April 2023.

The attack “demonstrates the destructive tactics of the armed faction and its backers,” the army said in a communication.

Context of the Contested Region

The resource-abundant Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the UN mission has been stationed there since 2011, when South Sudan became independent from Sudan.

Appeals for an urgent halt to fighting in Sudan were also issued to allow “a comprehensive, all-encompassing and Sudanese-owned dialogue” to resolve the fighting.

Country Engulfed in Conflict Since 2023

Sudan was engulfed in widespread violence in April 2023 when a political rivalry between the military and the RSF escalated into full-scale combat in the city of Khartoum and elsewhere the country.

• The fighting has claimed tens of thousands, a number human rights organizations consider a major underestimate.
• Recent fighting has centred on Kordofan, especially since paramilitary forces seized El Fasher.
• The war has devastated cities and has been noted for horrors, including mass rape and killings based on ethnicity.
• These crimes have been described as international crimes by international bodies.
• The conflict has also caused the globe's most dire humanitarian emergency and driven parts of the country into starvation.