Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

At least 34 U.N. staff died in 2008

|
|
 
  
Published: Jan. 14, 2009 at 7:29 PM

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- At least 34 U.N. staff members were killed in attacks worldwide in 2008, the United Nation's staff union said Wednesday.

While the figure represents a slight drop from 2007, Staff Union President Stephen Kisambira said, "2008 was another harsh year for United Nations personnel around the world," the United Nations said in a news release.

Kisambira said the union "appeals to member states to guarantee the minimal security conditions necessary for the United Nations to carry out its life-saving work."

He said one of the most deadly incidents occurred when a police and military patrol was ambushed by at least 200 attackers in Darfur last July, killing seven peacekeepers and wounding 22 from the African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force.

The report indicated seven staff members died in March in a crash in eastern Nepal and another seven dying when a plane carrying humanitarian supplies went down in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At least 10 U.N. personnel were taken hostage last year, and one was missing in Somalia at the end of 2008, Kisambira said.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
You don't have to be too smart to coach high school sports. Just smart enough to not post nude photos...
There's vandalizing your school, and then there's doing a million dollars damage to your school
Police say Taylor Burnham, 18, was only wearing cowboy boots as she led police on a Sunday morning...
If you're working as a dog groomer and accidentally chop off a dog's ear, don't try to glue it back,...
After a two-year sting operation, the Feds shut down ... an Amish farm. Another victory in the war...
High school coach retires at 65 after getting arrested nude, "aroused" in car backseat with 17-year-old...