One United Nations peacekeeper was from Cambodia while the other was from El Salvador. (Representative)
United Nations, United States:
Two United Nations peacekeepers in Mali died from the coronavirus, officials said on Friday.
Of the approximately 100,000 United Nations soldiers deployed on fifteen different missions around the world, these two are the first whose deaths are directly linked to the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, I also want to say that yesterday and today, two of our military colleagues died due to COVID-19,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a meeting at UN headquarters in New York to honor the killed peacekeepers. in conflict.
One was from Cambodia and the other from El Salvador, “both members of MINUSMA,” said the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, said António Guterres.
Including soldiers, police, civilians and all affiliated personnel, on Friday there were a total of 137 cases of coronavirus during peacekeeping missions, with 53 recovered and the two dead, the UN said. .
MINUSMA is the most affected mission, with 90 cases of infection, 43 recovered and two dead.
The next most affected missions are in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), with 21 cases of infection and three recovered, and in the Central African Republic, with 17 cases of infection and two recovered.
Other cases have been reported among peacekeepers in South Sudan, Libya, Israel and Darfur, the UN said.
In 2019, 83 soldiers, police and civilians in 39 different countries were killed during peacekeeping missions.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
