Six UN peacekeepers killed in drone assault in Sudan’s South Kordofan

[ad_1] Six United Nations peacekeepers from Bangladesh have been killed on Saturday in a drone strike on Sudan's southern Kordofan area, the UN mission mentioned, with Dhaka sharply condemning the assault.

The United Nations Interim Safety Drive for Abyei (UNISFA) mentioned "six troops have been killed and 6 injured", together with 4 significantly, when a drone hit their camp in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state.

All the victims are from Bangladesh, it mentioned.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the "horrific" assault, saying it "might represent conflict crimes beneath worldwide regulation".

"Assaults because the one at the moment in South Kordofan in opposition to peacekeepers are unjustifiable. There'll have to be accountability," he mentioned in an announcement.

Bangladesh's interim chief Muhammad Yunus in an announcement mentioned he was "deeply saddened" by the assault, and put the toll at six useless and eight wounded.

He requested the UN to make sure that his nation's personnel have been provided "any essential emergency assist".

"The federal government of Bangladesh will stand by the households on this tough second," Yunus added.

Dhaka's international ministry mentioned it "strongly condemned" the assault.

UN peacekeepers are deployed to Abyei, a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan.

Fires blazing A medical supply had earlier advised AFP that the strike on a United Nations facility in Kadugli killed at the very least six individuals, with witnesses saying they have been UN staff.

"Six individuals have been killed in a bombing of the UN headquarters whereas they have been contained in the constructing," the medical supply on the metropolis's hospital mentioned.

Eyewitnesses mentioned a drone had hit the UN facility.

The Sudanese military printed a video on its Fb web page exhibiting fires blazing and two columns of smoke rising from the UNISFA base.

The military-aligned authorities based mostly in Port Sudan issued an announcement condemning the assault and accusing the paramilitary Fast Assist Forces (RSF) of being behind it.

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In an announcement, the Sovereignty Council headed by military chief Basic Abdel Fattah al-Burhan referred to as the assault a "harmful escalation".

The RSF in an announcement on Telegram mentioned it rejected "the claims and allegations... concerning an air assault that focused the United Nations headquarters in Kadugli, and the accompanying false accusations in opposition to our forces of being behind it via using a drone".

In the meantime, Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris mentioned that "the terrorist insurgent militia has met all of the circumstances to be labeled as a terrorist group", and urged the UN to "carry the perpetrators to justice".

Kadugli, the place famine was declared in early November, has been besieged for a 12 months and a half by the RSF.

Strategic place Following their late-October seize of El-Fasher – the military's final stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur area -- the RSF have pushed eastward into the oil-rich Kordofan area, divided into three states.

Kordofan is an enormous agricultural area that lies between RSF-controlled Darfur within the west and army-held areas within the north, east and centre.

Its place is vital for sustaining provide strains and transferring troops.

The RSF has been at conflict with the navy since April 2023 and has deployed fighters, drones and allied militias to the fertile area.

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Analysts say the RSF search to punch via the military's defences round central Sudan, paving the way in which for recapturing Khartoum.

Final week, strikes on a kindergarten and hospital in Kalogi in South Kordofan killed 114 individuals, together with 63 kids, in accordance with the UN's World Well being Group.

Sudan's conflict has up to now killed tens of hundreds of individuals, displaced thousands and thousands and resulted in one of many world's worst humanitarian crises.

Efforts to finish the conflict have up to now failed.

Final month, US President Donald Trump mentioned he would transfer to finish the battle following discussions in Washington with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, however the initiative has but to materialise.