UN chief condemns drone attack on Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Sudan
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned what he described as a "horrific" drone attack on the logistics base of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, Sudan, which killed six members of the Bangladeshi UN peacekeeping contingent and injured eight others.
In a statement on Sunday (14 December), the UN chief expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, as well as to the government and people of Bangladesh.
He also wished a speedy recovery for those injured in the attack.
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Guterres said attacks against UN peacekeepers are unjustifiable and may constitute war crimes under international law.
He urged all parties to protect UN personnel and civilians at all times.
"There will need to be accountability," the Secretary-General said, stressing that those responsible for such attacks must be held to account.
Six members of the Bangladesh Army serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission were killed and eight others injured when "terrorists attacked" a UN base in Sudan's Abyei region yesterday (13 December), according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
According to a statement posted on Bangladesh Army's Facebook page, the authorities are continuing all out efforts to provide necessary treatment and carry out rescue operations for the injured peacekeepers.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei said "six troops were killed and six injured", including four seriously, when a drone hit their camp in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, reports AFP.
All the victims are from Bangladesh, it said.
A medical source had earlier told AFP that the strike on a United Nations facility in Kadugli killed at least six people, with witnesses saying they were UN employees.
"Six people were killed in a bombing of the UN headquarters while they were inside the building," the medical source at the city's hospital said.
Eyewitnesses said a drone had struck the UN facility.
