The U.S. condemned a drone strike on a United Nations base in Kadugli, on Saturday that killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers and injured eight others in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack in a post on X, expressing his condolences to the families of those killed and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. He called it "unjustifiable" warning it could constitute a war crime.
"Attacks against UN peacekeepers like this one are unjustifiable & may constitute war crimes. I remind everyone of their obligation to protect UN personnel & civilians," he said.
Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to U.N. peacekeeping missions and its troops have long been deployed in the volatile region.
"A drone attack was carried out by separatist armed groups on the Kadugali Logistics Base under the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei, Sudan yesterday (Saturday) from approximately 3:40 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. local time," the armed forces' public relations division said in a statement on Sunday.
Massad Boulos, U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, called the attack an "egregious disregard for international efforts to protect peace and security" on X. He emphasised that warring parties must not target UN personnel, must cease hostilities immediately, and must allow unrestricted humanitarian access to those affected.
The attack occurred amid ongoing clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have raged since April 2023, causing thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, and one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The Sudanese army attributed the strike to the RSF, which has not yet commented.
The victims were serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), stationed in the contested, oil-rich border area between Sudan and South Sudan, a longstanding flashpoint.
South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 following a long civil war, but they failed to agree on the status of several regions that both sides claimed sovereignty over.
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