At least 34 U.N. staff died in 2008

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.