Three Bangladeshi peacekeepers were injured Friday in the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR) as a landmine exploded in Bohong, the UN mission in the country said Saturday.
This is the fourth time that the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) peacekeepers have fallen victim to explosive devices detonating beneath UN vehicles.
Earlier, three Tanzanian peacekeepers were injured in a similar incident in the southwest of the country Thursday.
Mankeur Ndiaye, special representative of the secretary-general and head of MINUSCA, wished a prompt recovery to the six peacekeepers from Bangladesh and Tanzania wounded on Thursday and Friday.
The Mission chief strongly condemned the use of unidentified device explosives by armed groups in the Central African Republic.
Back in November, a rogue attack by elements of the presidential guard against a vehicle from the mission left 10 unarmed Egyptian blue helmets injured in Bangui.
Two were seriously hurt in Friday’s incident in Bohong in Ouham-Pende province more than 500 kilometres from the capital Bangui, MINUSCA said.
The two seriously hurt were helicoptered to the town of Bouar for treatment at a MINUSCA-run hospital, it added.
On Thursday, three Tanzanian peacekeepers serving on MINUSCA were injured as their vehicle struck an unidentified explosive device, also thought to have been a landmine.
One of the soldiers was seriously hurt, and needed to be evacuated to Bouar for treatment and then on to the capital, Bangui, MINUSCA informed.
More than 14,000 uniformed personnel serve MINUSCA, which has been in the country since 2014, following the eruption the previous year of deadly inter-communal violence between mainly Christian and mainly Muslim militias, which destabilised the CAR.
The government declared a unilateral ceasefire in October. Although much of the country of 5 million remains in the grip of armed groups, positive steps have been made this year to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.
More than 87,000 personnel in UN peacekeeping missions are confronting greater threats today because conflicts have become more complex and are driven by an increasing number of factors ranging from ethnic tensions and the impact of organised crime to illegal exploitation of resources and terrorism, UN peacekeeping chief said November 19.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix said even compared to two or three years ago, “most of our peacekeeping missions have a political and security environment that has deteriorated.”
In addition and “equally important,” he said, is that the conflicts are “multi-layered” and very often local and national, but also regional and global.
He pointed to Africa’s impoverished Sahel region, which is seeing increasing terrorist activity, as an example.
The UN now has 12 far-flung peacekeeping operations – six in Africa, four in the Middle East, one in Europe and one in Asia – with the more than 66,000 military personnel from 121 countries joined by over 7,000 international police and 14,000 civilians.
He said the peacekeeping department has circulated a list to UN member nations of what it needs to improve the protection of peacekeepers against ambushes, improvised explosive devices and attacks, and to protect their camps.
The list also includes improved medical support and equipment to make peacekeepers more nimble, mobile and reactive, especially more helicopters, he said.
If the peacekeeping department and peacekeepers are better at using digital technology, the men and women in the field can be better protected, Lacroix said.
Source: United News of Bangladesh