At Least Five Peacekeeping, Associated Personnel Killed in Malicious Attacks during 2024, United Nations Staff Union Committee Says
At Least 116 Staff Members of United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency Killed in 2024, Bringing Total to 263 Staff Fatalities Since War in Gaza
At least five United Nations personnel — four military peacekeeping personnel and one civilian UN security coordination officer — were killed in deliberate attacks in 2024, the United Nations Staff Union Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service said today. By nationality, the UN personnel who died in 2024 were from Cameroon (1), Ghana (1), India (1) Pakistan (1) and Uganda (1).
This does not include the personnel of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) who died in the war in Gaza, since they were not deliberately targeted. However, at least 116 UNRWA personnel had been confirmed killed in 2024 in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in response to the terror attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, the largest loss during a conflict in the 79-year history of the United Nations. As of 29 December 2024, the total number of UNRWA team members killed since 7 October 2023 is 263 (UNRWA Situation Report #153).
Peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were also affected by conflicts in the region.
On 11 October, two peacekeepers from Indonesia serving with UNIFIL were injured after two explosions occurred close to an observation tower near the mission’s base in Naquora.
On 29 October, eight peacekeepers from Austria serving with UNIFIL were wounded after a rocket, likely fired by Hizbullah or an affiliated group, hit UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon.
On 7 November, a UNIFIL convoy bringing newly arrived peacekeepers from Malaysia to south Lebanon was passing Saida when a drone strike occurred nearby. Five peacekeepers were lightly injured.
On 19 November, four peacekeepers from Ghana serving with UNIFIL were wounded when a rocket most likely fired by Hizbullah hit their base in southern Lebanon. Peacekeepers and facilities were targeted in three separate incidents.
On 22 November, four peacekeepers from Italy serving with UNIFIL were wounded when two rockets, likely launched by Hizbullah or affiliated groups, struck the Sector West Headquarters in Shama.
In addition, three members of the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan country team — the Head of field office, a programme associate and a security guard — lost their lives on 19 December after an aerial bombardment hit the WFP Field Office Compound in Yabus, Blue Nile State.
The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was the deadliest for peacekeepers with two fatalities, followed by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) with one.
In 2023 at least 11 United Nations personnel (seven military and four civilians) were killed in malicious attacks, and in 2022 at least 32 (28 peacekeepers and four civilians). The drop in fatalities can partly be attributed to the conclusion in 2023 of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the deadliest peacekeeping mission with 175 fatalities due to malicious acts.
Deliberate Attacks
Following is a non-exhaustive list of deliberate attacks in 2024 that resulted in the death or injury of United Nations and associated personnel, compiled by the United Nations Staff Union Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service.
On 10 January, Al-Shabaab militants seized a helicopter with United Nations personnel travelling onboard in Galmdug, Somalia. The helicopter was captured after it had to make an emergency landing in an area controlled by the armed group. According to media reports, the helicopter took off from the city of Beledweyne and landed close to Gadoon village (near Hindhere village) in central Somalia’s Galgaduud region due to a technical glitch. The UN-contracted helicopter was conducting an air medical evacuation. According to media reports, nine people were on board: four Ukrainian crew members, two Kenyan nurses, an Egyptian working for a contractor who provides emergency medical evaluations, a Somali military doctor and a Ugandan protection officer. At least one passenger was reportedly killed and six were seized by al-Shabaab.
On 11 January, Maimudu Edema, a peacekeeper from Uganda, serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, was killed when mortar rounds landed inside the Aden Adde International Airport area, in which the UN Compound was located. Al-Shabaab has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 15 January, Emmanuel Steve Atebele, a peacekeeper from Cameroon serving with MINUSCA, was killed when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Mbindali, in Ouham-Pendé Prefecture, north-west of Paoua, Central African Republic. Five other blue helmets were injured in the attack.
On 27 January, Kyere Evans, a peacekeeper from Ghana serving with UNISFA, was killed when the mission’s base in Agok came under attack by an armed group.
On 28 January, Muhammad Tariq, a peacekeeper from Pakistan serving with UNISFA, died in Abyei when a UNISFA convoy transporting civilians came under attack.
On 2 February, two peacekeepers from South Africa serving with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), were injured in an attack on a UN helicopter in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The helicopter was carrying out a medical evacuation when it came under fire from presumed members of the M23 armed group in the Karuba region, North Kivu Province. The helicopter was able to land safely in the provincial capital, Goma.
On 16 March, eight peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO were wounded during clashes between the M23 armed group and Government troops. The incident occurred in the vicinity of Sake, 20 kilometres from Goma. The wounded peacekeepers, who were part of Operation Springbok initiated in November 2023 to safeguard civilians in the region, sustained their injuries amidst the ongoing fighting, where MONUSCO troops had been assisting Government forces to protect vulnerable civilians.
On 13 May, Waibhav Anil Kale, a former military officer from India working as a security coordination officer for the United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS), was killed in Rafah, southern Gaza, when a weapon impacted the back of his clearly marked United Nations vehicle. The vehicle was driving to the European Hospital in Rafah. Another UNDSS staff member, a Jordanian woman travelling in the same vehicle, was injured. The shots were thought to come from an Israel Defense Forces tank in the area.
On 10 October, two peacekeepers from Sri Lanka serving with UNIFIL were injured after an Israel Defense Forces tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting the tower and causing its fall.
Violations of the Independence of the International Civil Service
On 24 January, the Houthi authorities in Yemen ordered United Nations and other humanitarian staff holding United States and United Kingdom passports to leave the country within a month. The de facto authorities, who controlled the capital, Sana’a, along with many other areas of the country, thus violated the independence of the international civil service.
On 11 June, the Secretary-General called for the immediate release of all United Nations staff held in Yemen by the de facto Houthi authorities, following the arbitrary detention of 13 of the Organization’s personnel, including six staff members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Four additional United Nations staff members had been detained and held incommunicado by the de facto authorities since 2021 and 2023, without access to their families or their respective organizations and agencies.
On 12 October, the heads of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and OHCHR, as well as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, renewed urgent calls for the immediate release of their staff arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities in Yemen, amid reports that some of them might face “criminal prosecution”.