ISLAMABAD: At least 32 UN peacekeeping personnel, including seven Pakistanis, lost their lives in “malicious” attacks last year, the United Nations Staff Union revealed this week, saying such “heinous acts may constitute war crimes under international law.” 

The South Asian country has made long-standing and consistent contributions to UN peacekeeping missions over six decades, according to Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs. Since 1960, over 200,000 Pakistani service men and women have served in 46 UN missions in almost all continents of the world.  

These seven Pakistani peacekeepers were killed during the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which remained the second-deadliest mission exercise for peacekeepers last year after the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). 

“On 29 March 2022, Muhammad Ismail, Faizan Ali, Asif Ali Awan, Samiullah Khan, Muhammad Saad Nomani, and Muhammad Jamil Khan, six peacekeepers from Pakistan… all of them serving with MONUSCO, lost their lives in a helicopter crash in the east of the country,” the United Nations Staff Union said in a statement. 

“On 30 September 2022, Babar Siddique, [another] peacekeeper from Pakistan serving with MONUSCO, was killed in an attack on the Mission’s operational base in Minembwe, South Kivu, by suspected members of the Twirwaneho armed group.” 

United Nations Staff Union President Aitor Arauz paid tribute to the 32 peacekeeping personnel who were killed in attacks last year and asked the international community to hold those who carried out the attacks accountable. 

“Each malicious attack against UN personnel is a blow to peacekeeping, one of the pillars of the multilateral edifice.  It is a collective responsibility of the international community to put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure accountability for these heinous acts, which may constitute war crimes under international law,” Arauz said. 

“To this end, we were encouraged by the launch in 2022 of the Group of Friends to promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.  We look forward to seeing Member States’ strong commitment on this issue lead to tangible outcomes on the ground.” 

Aside from the Pakistanis, seven peacekeepers from Egypt, four from Chad, three from Bangladesh, two from India, two from Nigeria, and one each from Ireland, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Russia, and Serbia, respectively, lost their lives during peacekeeping missions in 2022.