'Two Indians among 32 UN peacekeeping personnel killed in 2022'

New Delhi: At least 32 United Nations peacekeeping personnel — 28 military and four police, including one woman police officer — were killed in attacks in 2022, the United Nations Staff Union said.

On 26 July 2022, Two Indian Border Security Force Personnel namely Sanwalaram Vishnoi and Shishupal Singh, were killed along with Azzouz Znaidi, a peacekeeper from Morocco.

All three were serving with the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo MONUSCO, were killed and a police officer from Egypt was injured when violent protesters targeted the MONUSCO base in Butembo, North Kivu.

India is among the three top countries contributing their soldiers to Peacekeeping missions across the globe. In 2022, India contributed 5,269 troops, and Bangladesh was contributing 5,748 soldiers to United Nations peacekeeping missions, the most of any country. Nepal followed with 5,281 troops.

For the ninth year in a row, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was the deadliest for peacekeepers with 14 fatalities, followed by 13 fatalities in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), four fatalities in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and one fatality in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

By nationality, the peacekeepers who died in 2022 were from Bangladesh (3), Chad (4), Egypt (7), Guinea (1), India (2), Ireland (1), Jordan (1), Morocco (1), Nepal (1), Nigeria (2), Pakistan (7), Russian Federation (1) and Serbia (1).

A total of 494 United Nations and associated personnel were killed in attacks in the past 12 years from improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery fire, mortar rounds, landmines, armed and successive ambushes, convoy attacks, suicide attacks and targeted assassinations.