Six soldiers of the Bangladesh Army were killed in a terrorist attack while serving with a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan. Eight others were injured in the incident reported from the Abyei Special Administrative Area on the border between South Sudan and Sudan, the Bangladesh Army said.
According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate, the public relations division of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, fighting was still ongoing in the region. “Six of our personnel in the mission were killed and eight others injured when terrorists attacked a UN base in Sudan’s Abyei region,” a military spokesman said in Dhaka on Saturday.
After midnight on Saturday, the Bangladesh Army issued a statement on its Facebook page saying authorities were continuing all-out efforts to provide necessary treatment and carry out rescue operations for the injured peacekeepers, news agency PTI reported. The soldiers were inside a United Nations logistics division facility when it was struck by a suicide drone, Al Jazeera said.
The Sudanese army blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while the paramilitary group did not make an official statement on the matter.
“It has been learnt that the situation in the area is yet to stabilise and the fight with the terrorists is continuing,” the statement said, adding that the military would share further details in due course once more information became available. The authorities in the Abyei Special Administrative Area issued a separate statement saying a group of “rebels”, along with armed youths from the Twic faction, carried out a series of “barbaric, coordinated attacks” starting Saturday morning. Media reports suggest there is virtually no government presence, legal justice system, or police force in Abyei.
According to the BBC, citing UN officials, more than 50 people, including UN peacekeepers, have been killed in attacks in Abyei, marking it as the deadliest incident in a three-year-long series of clashes in the disputed, oil-rich area claimed by both South Sudan and Sudan. South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011 through a referendum after decades of civil war with Arab-majority northerners.
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Bangladesh is a major contributor to UN “blue helmet” missions. Officials say more than 6,000 personnel from the army, navy, air force and police are currently deployed, particularly in war-torn African countries, including Sudan. The UN recently renewed the mandate for its Abyei mission, known as UNISFA, as it continues to navigate an increasingly complex security landscape.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the attack and confirmed the toll at six dead and eight wounded. Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on X, “I strongly condemn the horrific drone attacks that targeted the logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, resulting in fatalities & injuries of members of the Bangladeshi @UNPeacekeeping contingent. My heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers & the Government & people of Bangladesh. I wish a swift recovery to the injured. Attacks against UN peacekeepers like this one are unjustifiable & may constitute war crimes. I remind everyone of their obligation to protect UN personnel & civilians. There will need to be accountability.”
