UN chief says 6 peacekeepers killed in drone strike on a UN facility in Sudan

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CAIRO (AP) — A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

The strike hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement.

Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei, UNISFA.

“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law,” said Guterres, who called for those responsible for the “unjustifiable” attack to be held accountable.

The Sudanese military blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, a notorious paramilitary group at war with the army for the control of the country for more than two years. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The attack “clearly reveals the subversive approach of the rebel militia and those behind it,” the military said in a statement. The military posted a video on social media showing plumes of dense black smoke over what it said was the U.N. facility.

The oil-rich Abyei is a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, and the U.N. mission has been deployed there since 2011 when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.

Guterres also called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow “a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process” to settle the conflict in the northeast African country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people — a figure rights groups consider a significant undercount.

The fighting has recently centered on Kodrofan, particuly since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

The war has wrecked urban areas and has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings which the U.N. and rights groups have said amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur.

The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine.