UN compound hit: Six peacekeepers killed in drone strike

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): At least six UN peacekeepers were killed and seven others injured in a drone attack on a UN compound in Kadugli, the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan province, Sudanese officials said.

According to reports, the Sudanese armed forces have blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack. However, the Rapid Support Forces have denied these allegations. The SAF says three missiles were fired from a drone, which landed in the area of ​​the UN headquarters and the Bangladesh Battalion. A UN storage facility also caught fire in the attack.

All of the casualties in the attack were members of the Bangladesh Battalion, which is part of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan. Meanwhile, Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council also strongly condemned the attack. The council called it a serious violation of international humanitarian law and said that attacking UN-secured premises is an extremely dangerous and criminal act.

The Council held the Rapid Support Forces fully responsible for the attack and appealed to the United Nations and the international community to take concrete steps to protect humanitarian personnel and United Nations premises.

Meanwhile, the Rapid Support Forces have stated that they did not carry out any airstrikes. The organization claims that the allegations against it are baseless and an attempt to tarnish its image. RSF claimed that it has a "completely clean" record regarding attacks on international organizations. It also stated that it has previously cooperated in the protection of UN and humanitarian personnel.

It is worth noting that a fierce conflict has been going on in Sudan between the SAF and the RSF since April 2023. Thousands of people have lost their lives in this conflict and millions have been forced to flee their homes.