Coronavirus update: Two UN peacekeepers die of COVID-19

Coronavirus update: Two UN peacekeepers die of COVID-19

Two UN peacekeepers in Mali have died from the coronavirus , officials said Friday .

Out of the some 100, 000 UN troops deployed on about 15 different missions around the world , these two are the first whose deaths were directly linked to the pandemic .

“ Unfortunately , I also want to say that yesterday and today two of our military colleagues have passed away due to COVID - 19 , ” UN Secretary - General Antonio Guterres said , during a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York to honor the peacekeepers killed in conflict .

One was from Cambodia and the other from El Salvador , “ both members of MINUSMA, ” the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Guterres said .

UN Secretary - General , Antonio Guterres

Including soldiers, police officers , civilians and all affiliated personnel , as of Friday there were a total of 137 cases of the coronavirus throughout the peacekeeping missions, with 53 recovered and the two dead , the UN said .

MINUSMA is the hardest - hit mission , with 90 cases of infection , 43 recovered and the two deaths .

The next - worst affected missions are in Democratic Republic of Congo ( MONUSCO) , with 21 cases of infection and three recovered, and in 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 officers and civilians in 39 different countries were killed during peacekeeping missions .

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