UN condemns Sudan drone attack that killed six peacekeepers

All victims were from Bangladesh in attack that 'may constitute war crimes under international law'

Sudanese people who fled El Fasher carry humanitarian aid. AFP

UN Sectretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned a "horrific" drone attack on Sudan's southern Kordofan region that killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers.

The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (Unisfa) on Saturday 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.

All the victims were from Bangladesh, it said.

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Mr Guterres said the attack "may constitute war crimes under international law."

"Attacks as the one today in South Kordofan against peacekeepers are unjustifiable. There will need to be accountability," he said in a statement.

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus in a statement said he was "deeply saddened" by the attack, and put the toll at six dead and eight wounded. The country's foreign ministry said it "strongly condemned" the attack.

The Sudanese armed forces (SAF) condemned the attack and accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of being behind it.

The RSF in a statement on Telegram rejected what it called "claims and allegations" and the "false accusations against our forces of being behind it."

The war between the armed forces and the RSF erupted in April 2023, when simmering tension between the military and the paramilitary group broke into open conflict. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced almost 13 million and pushed some regions into famine.

The armed forces and RSF have both been accused of war crimes and human rights abuses. The US has imposed sanctions on Gen Abdel Fatah Al Burhan of SAF and RSF's Gen Mohamed Dagalo, as well as people and entities involved in human rights violations.

Members of the US Congress on Thursday called for accountability in the civil war in Sudan, urging both sides to declare a ceasefire in a conflict