Aerial Strike on United Nations Base in Conflict-Ravaged Sudan Kills Six UN Personnel

A unmanned attack hit a United Nations logistics base in conflict-ridden Sudan on Saturday, causing the demise of six UN soldiers, per a statement.

The incident targeted a peacekeeping outpost in the city of Kadugli, located in the mid-country region of Kordofan.

8 additional soldiers were wounded in the strike. All the those affected are citizens of Bangladesh, deployed with the UN interim security force for Abyei (Unisfa).

“Attacks aimed at United Nations personnel could amount to violations of international law under global statutes,” officials stated, urging the culprits for the “inexcusable” attack to be brought to justice.

Army Blames Fighter Group

The national army assigned responsibility for the incident on the paramilitary RSF group, a notorious paramilitary group that has been at war with the government troops for power in the country for more than two years.

The strike “clearly reveals the rebellious nature of the rebel militia and its backers,” the army said in a release.

Background of the Disputed Region

The resource-abundant Abyei is a contested area between Sudan and its southern neighbor, and the United Nations contingent has been stationed there since 2011, when the south seceded from Sudan.

Calls for an urgent halt to fighting in Sudan were also expressed to allow “a comprehensive, all-encompassing and Sudanese-owned peace process” to address the war.

Country Engulfed in Chaos Since 2023

Sudan was engulfed in chaos in April 2023 when a dispute for control between the army and the RSF exploded into full-scale combat in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere the country.

• The war has killed more than 40,000 people, a figure advocates consider a major underestimate.
• Recent combat has been concentrated in Kordofan, particularly since paramilitary forces seized El Fasher.
• The conflict has wrecked towns and has been characterized by horrors, like mass rape and ethnically motivated killings.
• These crimes have been labeled international crimes by international bodies.
• The conflict has also caused the planet's most severe humanitarian crisis and forced parts of the country into extreme hunger.