Drone attack kills Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in Sudan

A drone strike hit a United Nations camp in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, on Saturday, killing Bangladeshi peacekeepers and injuring eight others, the UN confirmed. The blast struck a fuel station inside the camp. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) traded accusations over responsibility for the attack.

A UN source said the mission evacuated the dead and wounded from Kadugli to Abyei and is considering a full evacuation of personnel from the targeted logistics base. The UN security unit instructed staff to avoid the area and urged the temporary relocation of more than 30 workers.

The six Bangladeshi peacekeepers who were killed were part of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), deployed in 2011 to the disputed, oil-rich Abyei area claimed by Sudan and South Sudan. 

The mission’s mandate has been renewed twice, most recently last month until 2026, with any further extensions dependent on progress by both countries, including the creation of a joint police force and full demilitarisation, to be assessed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a report due in August 2026.

UNSG Guterres denounced the drone strikes on the UN logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, which left members of the Bangladeshi peacekeeping contingent dead and wounded.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, he said, “I strongly condemn the horrific drone attacks that targeted the logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, resulting in fatalities and injuries of members of the Bangladeshi U.N. Peacekeeping contingent.”

Guterres warned that such assaults could amount to grave violations of international law. He said, “Attacks against UN peacekeepers like this one are unjustifiable and may constitute war crimes. I remind everyone of their obligation to protect UN personnel and civilians. There will need to be accountability.” He also offered his condolences to the families of the six fallen peacekeepers.

Bangladesh’s interim head of government, Muhammad Yunus, also condemned Saturday’s attack in his statement posted on X, describing it as a serious crime against “international peace and humanity.” 

In an official statement, Yunus said six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and eight others injured in “a drone attack by terrorists” on a UN base in Abyei, southern Sudan.

Expressing shock at the incident, Yunus said, “The United Nations has already been requested to take urgent measures to ensure the highest level of medical treatment and necessary assistance to the injured peacekeepers.”

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf also denounced the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, stressing that targeting peacekeepers undermines regional and international security.

South Kordofan

The attack came amid intensifying violence across South Kordofan. On Sunday, a drone strike hit a hospital in the besieged city of Delling, killing seven civilians and injuring 12 others, including patients and their companions, according to medical sources.

According to a report by the Sudan Doctors Network, further shelling that day, killing nine people and wounding 17, including a medic, and accused the RSF of deliberately targeting health facilities and civilian areas.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported a new wave of displacement driven by worsening insecurity.

IOM said more than 1,600 people were newly displaced from several areas, with families scattering to different parts of the country, including North Kordofan, White Nile state, and Khartoum, as insecurity deepened.