Six United Nations peacekeepers from Bangladesh were killed and eight others wounded in a drone strike on a UN base in Sudan on Saturday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. The strike struck a logistics camp of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state.
Guterres condemned the “unjustifiable” attack and warned such strikes “may constitute war crimes under international law.” Sudan’s government and military blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the strike. Army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan called the incident a “dangerous escalation.” The RSF denied the accusations in a Telegram statement, calling them “false accusations.”
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths and urged the UN to provide emergency support for Bangladeshi personnel, adding that the government would assist the victims’ families. The Bangladesh Army said the area remained unstable, that clashes with “terrorists” were ongoing, and that authorities were making every effort to deliver medical care and conduct rescue operations for the injured.
Sudan has been engulfed in a civil war since April 2023 between the military and RSF militias. The conflict has produced what international observers describe as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis: tens of thousands killed, millions displaced and parts of the country pushed toward famine. Repeated efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire or political solution have so far failed.
Last month, Donald Trump said he would work to end the conflict after talks in Washington with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but no concrete steps have followed.
Edited by: Rana Taha