06-15-2008, 11:08 AM
Indians suffer most deaths in UN peace corps
Sun, Jun 15 12:40 AM
Bleeding on foreign soil, Indian troops have recorded maximum fatalities in United Nations peacekeeping missions around the globe. The deadly legacy of conflict has claimed the lives of 127 Indian personnel, a number much higher than that of Pakistan and Bangladesh -- the top two troop contributing countries to the UN. Figures released by the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations, covering the period 1948 through May 31, 2008, attribute the deaths of 2,474 international peacekeepers to "malicious acts, illness or accident".
Over 1,700 casualties were reported during the past two decades. The death count includes 97 Pakistanis and 84 Bangladeshis.
With 8,862 troops, India is the third-largest contributor; Pakistan and Bangladesh have 10,623 and 9,037 troops serving. Most Indian troops have died in Congo and Somalia.
Captain G.S. Salaria, posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra for courage in Congo in 1961, is the only Indian officer to be awarded the medal for fighting on foreign soil. Canada and Ghana share the second slot with a death tally of 114.
UK and France come next having lost 98 troops each. The UN released the figures within days of observing the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on May 29.
Sun, Jun 15 12:40 AM
Bleeding on foreign soil, Indian troops have recorded maximum fatalities in United Nations peacekeeping missions around the globe. The deadly legacy of conflict has claimed the lives of 127 Indian personnel, a number much higher than that of Pakistan and Bangladesh -- the top two troop contributing countries to the UN. Figures released by the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations, covering the period 1948 through May 31, 2008, attribute the deaths of 2,474 international peacekeepers to "malicious acts, illness or accident".
Over 1,700 casualties were reported during the past two decades. The death count includes 97 Pakistanis and 84 Bangladeshis.
With 8,862 troops, India is the third-largest contributor; Pakistan and Bangladesh have 10,623 and 9,037 troops serving. Most Indian troops have died in Congo and Somalia.
Captain G.S. Salaria, posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra for courage in Congo in 1961, is the only Indian officer to be awarded the medal for fighting on foreign soil. Canada and Ghana share the second slot with a death tally of 114.
UK and France come next having lost 98 troops each. The UN released the figures within days of observing the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on May 29.