Sudan Events – Follow-up
The United Nations announced that a logistics convoy of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was detained by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in West Kordofan, where a number of civilian contractors were kidnapped and fuel trucks were seized.
According to a statement from the UN mission, the convoy, which included 23 vehicles and 66 personnel from the Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, left Abyei for Kadugli to transport 280,000 liters of diesel. Upon reaching a checkpoint in Nyama, a militia group of 30 RSF members stopped the convoy, forced eight Kenyan civilian contractors working with the Lake Oil company to disembark from their trucks, and despite negotiations, the RSF militants forced the drivers to head towards Babanusa. Meanwhile, 62 Bangladeshi peacekeepers were detained in Nyama.
After intense efforts by the mission’s leadership and the UN Resident Coordinator in Sudan, the kidnapped individuals were released after 34 hours. However, the trucks have not yet been returned and are still being held at an unknown location.
The UN estimated the value of the seized fuel at about $520,000.
The UN spokesperson expressed deep concern about this escalation, emphasizing that attacks against peacekeeping forces may constitute war crimes under international law.
