As many as six UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh have been killed, while eight others were injured in a drone attack on a UN base in Sudan, confirmed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The attack was carried out on the logistics base of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state.
Guterres condemned the attack as "unjustifiable" and warned that such attacks "may constitute war crimes under international law."
The Sudanese government has blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack. The army chief and leader of the country called the attack a "dangerous escalation. The RSF on social media denied the allegations as baseless accusations. In response to the attack, the Bangladesh Army said, 'The situation remains unstable. Its interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, said in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the attack and urged the UN to provide immediate support to the families of those killed in the drone attack.
Yunus added, “The Bangladesh government stands behind the families in the difficult moment,” and assured them of all possible support. A separate statement from the government sources said that the “situation in the area is still not stable and clashes with terrorists are ongoing.”
Sudan has been experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times due to the continued fighting between the RSF and government forces over control of the resource-rich country. The war, according to the United Nations, has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.
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