United Nations, Dec 14 — Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and eight others injured after a drone attack on a UN logistics base in Sudan’s Abyei region, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday. The strike, reportedly carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), hit a warehouse facility in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State, destroying the structure and sparking plumes of smoke visible in local footage.
Guterres condemned the attack in the strongest terms, calling it “unjustifiable” and warning that such assaults on peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. He also stressed the need for accountability. UN Peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix confirmed that the Bangladeshi contingent—numbering 512 personnel in Abyei—suffered both fatalities and injuries in the strike. No casualties were reported among the 596 Indian troops serving under the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
The drone attack marks one of the deadliest incidents for UNISFA, which has lost 16 peacekeepers since its establishment in 2011. The mission was set up to monitor the volatile, oil-rich Abyei region, contested by Sudan and South Sudan. Persistent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF have intensified instability in the region.
The RSF, which evolved from the notorious Janjaweed militia active during the Darfur conflict, has grown into a powerful paramilitary force. Once backed by the Sudanese government, it later turned against Khartoum and is now engaged in a prolonged confrontation with the SAF. Sudan’s government, led by Army General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan, blamed the RSF for the latest attack.
Nearly three years of fighting between the SAF and RSF across Sudan have resulted in an estimated 15,000 deaths, deepening humanitarian and security crises. The UN has repeatedly warned that the escalating violence threatens regional stability and endangers peacekeeping operations on the ground.
