Aerial Strike on UN Base in Conflict-Ravaged Sudan Claims Six Peacekeepers

A unmanned attack targeted a UN logistics base in conflict-ridden Sudan on Saturday, causing the loss of six peacekeepers, as stated by a declaration.

The attack impacted a peacekeeping outpost in the city of Kadugli, situated in the mid-country region of Kordofan.

Eight other soldiers were hurt in the assault. All the those affected are Bangladeshi nationals, part of the United Nations mission in Abyei.

“Attacks against UN peacekeepers could amount to international crimes under global statutes,” officials stated, demanding the perpetrators for the “unjustifiable” attack to be prosecuted.

Army Accuses Fighter Group

The government forces attributed the incident on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a notorious paramilitary group that has been engaged in conflict with the army for power in the country for more than two years.

The strike “shows the destructive tactics of the rebel militia and its supporters,” the army said in a statement.

Background of the Contested Area

The resource-abundant Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the United Nations contingent has been deployed there since 2011, when the south gained its independence from Sudan.

Appeals for an urgent halt to fighting in Sudan were also made to allow “a wide-ranging, all-encompassing and nationally led political process” to settle the war.

Nation Plunged into Chaos Since 2023

Sudan was plunged into widespread violence in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF escalated into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and other parts the country.

• The fighting has taken more than 40,000 people, a toll human rights organizations believe a low estimate.
• Recent combat has been concentrated in Kordofan, particularly since the RSF seized El Fasher.
• The crisis has wrecked cities and has been noted for horrors, like widespread sexual violence and ethnic slaughter.
• These actions have been called war crimes by global observers.
• The situation has also caused the planet's most severe humanitarian emergency and driven parts of the country into extreme hunger.