UN condemns shelling of Sudan base which killed ‘blue helmet,’ injured two others

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned in the strongest terms the shelling on a United Nations logistics base in Sudan’s South Kordofan State which killed at least one UN peacekeeper and wounded two others.

“I urge the Government of Sudan and the SPLM-North [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North] to immediately cease hostilities and resume ceasefire negotiations,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalists in New York.

Government forces and members of the SPLM-N have been fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States.

Two shells hit the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) logistics base in Kadugli, Sudan, earlier today, according to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

The base, in South Kordofan state, serves as a logistics base for the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), an oil-rich area contested by South Sudan and Sudan.

One Ethiopian peacekeeper was killed and two more were injured as a result of the shelling.

“The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the family of the fallen peacekeeper and to the Government of Ethiopia,” his spokesperson said in the statement.

Also condemning the attack “in the strongest terms”, the members of the Security Council called on the Sudanese Government to “swiftly” investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The incident has also been condemned by the UN peacekeeping office, who also wished their injured colleagues a speedy recovery.