'Dangerous escalation': Six UN staff killed in drone strike in Sudan's Kordofan; government blames RSF

At least six people were killed after a strike hit a United Nations facility in Sudan’s southern Kordofan region, a medical source told news agency AFP on Saturday.

“Six people were killed in a bombing of the UN headquarters while they were inside the building,” the medical source at Kadugli’s hospital said. Witnesses said that the victims were UN employees.


Eyewitnesses said a drone struck the UN building in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, which has been under siege for around a year and a half.

The Sudanese government condemned the attack in a statement, with the army-aligned administration based in Port Sudan accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying it out.

Calling the strike a “dangerous escalation,” the Sovereignty Council headed by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan denounced the attack on the UN facility.

Kadugli has been facing severe humanitarian conditions, with famine declared in early November. The city lies in the wider Kordofan region, a vast agricultural area split into three states and strategically located between RSF-controlled Darfur to the west and army-held territories in the north, east and centre.

Kordofan’s position is critical for maintaining supply routes and troop movements. Since the outbreak of war between the RSF and the Sudanese military in April 2023, the paramilitary group has deployed fighters, drones and allied militias across the fertile region.

Analysts say the RSF is seeking to break through army defences in central Sudan, a move that could pave the way for an attempt to recapture Khartoum.