The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) has completed the evacuation of its logistics base in Kadugli, South Kordofan, Sudan, ending nearly 13 years of operations there, the mission said Wednesday, after a deadly drone attack killed six peacekeepers.
UNISFA said a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj that the evacuation of its personnel and several staff from nongovernmental organizations was carried out over the weekend following an extensive security review after drone strikes hit the base on Dec. 13. All six peacekeepers killed and the nine wounded were from Bangladesh, the mission said.
The remains of the six peacekeepers were repatriated to Bangladesh, while eight of the injured are receiving treatment in Nairobi, Kenya.
UNISFA said it informed Sudanese authorities of the decision to withdraw from Kadugli, saying the security situation had “disabled the capacity for the U.N. to function in the area.”
The mission said it remains committed to monitoring the Sudan–South Sudan border and would reconsider returning to Kadugli only when security conditions permit.
The Kadugli base served as the headquarters of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, which monitors the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone along the Sudan–South Sudan border.
The mechanism was established in 2012 after the two countries agreed to create the buffer zone and operates with support from UNISFA. It also maintains a presence in Tishwin and Abu Qussa.
Sudan’s army-aligned government, based in Port Sudan, condemned the attack and accused the rival Rapid Support Forces of carrying it out. The Sovereign Council, led by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, described the strike as a “dangerous escalation.”
The RSF, which has been fighting the Sudanese military since April 2023, denied responsibility, rejecting what it called false accusations that it carried out the attack using a drone.
The war between Sudan’s military and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
UNISFA was established in 2011 to oversee the volatile Abyei region, which is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.