Drone Attack Hits UN Building, Kills 6 Peacekeepers in Sudan’s South Kordofan
A drone strike targeted a UN facility in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, killing 6 peacekeepers and injuring others, all Bangladeshi nationals.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of conducting the attack, calling it a “dangerous escalation.”
Targeting UN Building
A drone strike hit the UN logistics base in Kadugli, the capital city of South Kordofan state, on Saturday, killing 6 peacekeepers and wounding eight others. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the UN announced.
AFP reported earlier that a drone attack had killed at least six people. “Six people were killed in a bombing of the UN headquarters while they were inside the building,” a medical source said.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese army posted a video on Facebook showing the UNISFA base on fire, with two columns of smoke rising.
UN peacekeepers are deployed to Abeyi, an oil-rich disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan. The mission comprises around 4,000 military and police personnel, alongside civilian staff. Its tasks include strengthening the capacity of the Abyei Police Service, monitoring and verifying the redeployment of forces from the region, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, and protecting civilians.
War Crime
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, strongly denounced the attack as “horrific,” stating that these attacks could constitute “war crimes.”
“I strongly condemn the horrific drone attacks that targeted the United Nations peacekeeping logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, on 13 December 2025,” Guterres said in a statement.
“Attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law and I remind all parties to the conflict of their obligation to protect UN personnel and civilians. Attacks as the one today in South Kordofan against peacekeepers are unjustifiable. There will need to be accountability,” the UN chief noted.
Guterres also renewed his call for ceasefire, urging the two warring parties to “agree on an immediate cessation of hostilities and to resume talks to reach a lasting ceasefire and a comprehensive, inclusive and Sudanese-owned political process,” he said.
Similarly, the head of UN Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, voiced alarm over targeting UN peacekeepers, stressing that “this attack may constitute a war crime.”
Bangladeshi Condemnation
Following the attack, the Bangladeshi interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, said that he was “deeply saddened” by the attack, asking the UN to ensure that Bangladeshi personnel were offered “any necessary emergency support.”
6 Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed, 8 wounded in Sudan UN base attack: ISPR Bangladesh
Fighting is ongoing as Bangladesh Army contingent fight back. Updates coming. #BDMilitary #BangladeshArmy #UNPKO #SudanAttack pic.twitter.com/fUzYuhKvJd
— BDMilitary (@BDMILITARY) December 13, 2025
The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh also voiced strong condemnation of the attack. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi army said that “fighting is ongoing,” without providing details.
Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions.
Blaming RSF
In a statement, the SAF blamed the RSF for the attack on the UN facility, saying that this attack was a “flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law and UN resolutions that protect peacekeeping missions and UN facilities.”
Furthermore, the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, led by SAF commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, described the attack as a “dangerous escalation and a criminal act amounting to an organized terrorist operation.”
Meanwhile, the SAF-aligned government in Port Sudan held the RSF fully responsible for the attack. The Sudanese Prime Minister, Kamil Idris, called the attack a “serious escalation and criminal conduct tantamount to an organized terrorist act,” noting that the RSF “meets all criteria of a terrorist organization.”
On the other hand, the RSF rejected the “claims and allegations” of being behind the drone attack on UN building in Kadugli, it said in a statement on Telegram.
Advancing in Kordofan
Since the RSF captured El-Fasher in late October 2025, fighting has intensified over the Kordofan region, which provides a strategic route to the capital, Khartoum, and links central Sudan to Darfur. Moreover, the region, including North, South, and West Kordofan, has an abundancy of resources.
The RSF tries to expand its outreach to the east and south of the Darfur region, paving the way for Khartoum. For nearly 18 months, the paramilitary has been besieging Kadugli, where famine was confirmed in early November.
The war in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people, displacing over 12 million inside Sudan and to neighboring countries, and pushed parts of the country into famine amid cholera outbreaks.
It has also split the country in two, as the SAF controls the center, north and east, while the RSF holds the entire Darfur region and parts of Kordofan, with each side declaring a government.
