UN peacekeepers: A history of deadly attacks

PARIS– 9 December 2017: An attack which killed 15 United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo late Thursday is one of the worst in the history of the organisation.

The following is a look at previous deadly attacks on the so-called Blue Berets:

- Democratic Republic of Congo -

- December 7, 2017: At least 15 United Nations peacekeepers from Tanzania are killed, in what is the deadliest attack on its forces in the central African country since they were deployed in 1999. At least 53 are wounded, including several critically. The UN peacekeeping mission blames the attack on ADF, a Ugandan Muslim armed group with a presence in the country.

- January 23, 2006: Eight Guatemalan peacekeepers are killed in a clash with armed men in the Garamba park in far eastern DRC. They were carrying out reconnaissance missions in the region which is suspected of harbouring fighters from Uganda's deadly Lord's Resistance Army.

- February 25, 2005: Nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers are killed in an ambush as they patrol an area in Ituri in northern eastern DRC.

- Mali -

- May 29, 2016: Five Togolese peacekeepers are killed in Mali's central region of Mopti, in an attack which is not claimed.

- May 18, 2016: Five Chadian peacekeepers are killed in an ambush near Aguelhoc in north eastern Mali. The attack is claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine, which controlled Mali's vast north for nearly 10 months between 2012 and January 2013.

- February 12, 2016: Seven peacekeepers from Guinea are killed in a jihadist attack on their base in Kidal, also claimed by Ansar Dine.

- July 2, 2015: Six peacekeepers from Burkina Faso are killed in an attack in northern Mali, south west of Timbuktu, claimed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

- October 3, 2014: Nine Nigerian peacekeepers are killed as they travel in the northeastern region of Gao. The attack is claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked MUJAO, one of the groups that controlled northern Mali between 2012 and early 2013.

- Central African Republic -

- May 9, 2017: Four Cambodians and one Moroccan peacekeeper are killed during an attack on their convoy in the south east of the Central African Republic.

- Sudan -

- July 13, 2013: Seven Tanzanian peacekeepers in the joint UN-African Union force in Darfur, Minuad, are killed in an ambush to near Nyala, one of Darfur's main towns.

- July 8, 2008: Seven Minuad soldiers are killed in northern Darfur.

- Ivory Coast -

- June 8, 2012: Seven Nigerian peacekeepers working for the UN operation in Ivory Coast, ONUCI, are killed in an ambush near to the western town of Tai, near to the border with Liberia.

- Lebanon -

- June 24, 2007: Six members of the Spanish contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force are killed in a car bomb in south Lebanon.

- Rwanda -

- April 7, 1994: Ten Belgian Blue Berets charged with protecting Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana are lynched in the first hours of the country's genocide.

- Somalia -

- June 5, 1993: 24 peacekeepers from Pakistan are killed in Mogadishu during clashes with warlord General Mohamed Farah Aidid's militia.