Aerial Strike on United Nations Base in Conflict-Ravaged Sudan Leaves 6 UN Personnel
A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of six UN soldiers, according to a announcement.
The strike occurred at a UN facility in the city of Kadugli, located in the central region of Kordofan.
8 additional soldiers were wounded in the assault. Each of the victims are citizens of Bangladesh, part of the UN peacekeeping contingent in Abyei.
“Assaults targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute international crimes under international law,” officials stated, demanding the culprits for the “unacceptable” strike to be brought to justice.
Military Blames Fighter Faction
The Sudanese military assigned responsibility for the incident on the paramilitary RSF group, a prominent armed faction that has been engaged in conflict with the army for power in the country for over 24 months.
The strike “demonstrates the subversive tactics of the armed faction and those behind it,” the military said in a statement.
Background of the Contested Region
The oil-rich Abyei is a claimed area between Sudan and South Sudan, and the UN mission has been operating there since 2011, when South Sudan seceded from Sudan.
Appeals for an swift truce in Sudan were also issued to allow “a wide-ranging, all-encompassing and Sudanese-owned peace process” to resolve the conflict.
Country Engulfed in Chaos Since 2023
Sudan was engulfed in open war in April 2023 when a political rivalry between the army and the RSF escalated into direct clashes in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere the country.
- The conflict has claimed over 40,000 lives, a figure human rights organizations regard as a low estimate.
- Recent combat has centred on Kordofan, particularly since the RSF captured El Fasher.
- The crisis has destroyed cities and has been noted for grave abuses, including systematic rape and killings based on ethnicity.
- These acts have been described as crimes against humanity by global observers.
- The war has also precipitated the globe's most dire humanitarian emergency and driven parts of the country into famine.
