14 January 2002

FICSA Update No. 2 2002

    We Mourn Dead

Sierra Leone

  • We have the sad duty to announce that six Zambian peacekeepers were killed and 12 wounded in Sierra Leone, on Saturday, 5 January 2002, after an accidental explosion involving a box of mortar shells. The shells had been handed over to the U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone as part of the concluding disarmament process in the country.

  • "This tragic incident underscores the acute dangers associated with peacekeeping," a spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement, adding that Mr. Annan expresses his "continued appreciation for the commitment and dedication of United Nations personnel serving in missions across the world."

    Kosovo

  • We also have the sad duty to announce that, in a shooting incident on Saturday, 5 January 2002, an Albanian woman, who worked as a translator for the U.N. police, was killed.

    Afghanistan/Pakistan

  • An aid worker from a UNHCR implementing partner agency was left dead and two were injured on 9 January 2002 after gunfire broke out near the Old Bagzai refugee camp in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier province. UNHCR employees were evacuated and refugee relocation efforts were temporarily halted.

  • "UNHCR has consistently expressed concern about the security of its staff, the staff of its implementing partners and the refugees in the tribal areas near the Pakistan-Afghan border, where all the new refugee camps are situated, and very much regrets the death of the worker," said spokesman Yusuf Hassan.

  • The combatants were "two groups in villages adjacent to the Old Bagzai camp," the United Nations said (U.N. Newservice, Jan. 10). The Pakistani newspaper Dawn, however, reports that the fighting was between "two refugee groups".