The attacks on UN peacekeepers are carried out in different countries, leading to concerns. According to multiple sources including the British Broadcasting Corporation and Cable News Network, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) attacked the peacekeepers of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) — the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — in Southern Lebanon in October this year. UN peacekeepers were also attacked in many other countries in the past, including the 2019 attack on UN peacekeepers in Mali and the 2017 attack on a UN peacekeeping convoy in the Central African Republic. While the state parties sometimes attack UN peacekeepers, rebel groups, criminal organizations or individuals with political motivations also attack them, often leading to the deaths of many.
It is notable that strategic, political motives-based and other reasons are responsible for attacking UN peacekeepers by warring parties or others. Political motives, war tactics and local grievances are crucial causes. Among others, political instability in the host country, a lack of effective communication between peacekeepers and local communities and distrust play vital roles. But among the causes, political motives and war tactics often play more important roles in such attacks, undermining the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions and hindering efforts to promote stability and security in conflict-affected regions. Israel’s attacks on UNIFIL, which has been operating since its establishment in 1978 after the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, are probably driven by several causes including Israel’s war tactics and distrust of UNIFIL.
The United Nations and different governments take diplomatic and other steps to address the concerns, helping reduce the chance of such attacks. The UN peace missions often increase security measures and carry out diplomatic negotiations — along with putting pressure on the attacking groups or parties and imposing sanctions by the UN and powerful countries— to ensure the protection of UN peacekeepers from such attacks. The diplomatic influence of several countries including the United States and Russia helped reduce the chance of attacks on UN peacekeeping missions earlier in several countries. Among others, holding attackers accountable and the deployment of specialized military units to provide additional support and security for peacekeeping missions in high-risk areas reduced the chance of attacking UN peacekeepers.
But because of various flaws in the steps, there are less effective outcomes many times. There remain inadequate coordination efforts between different stakeholders, insufficient communications with conflicting parties and a lack of timely diplomatic steps and international pressure, needed to reduce the risk of the attacks on UN peacekeepers. The pressure of different countries including global powers work more in less powerful countries compared to more powerful countries. Among others, there is a lack of stronger enforcement mechanisms and greater support for peacekeeping missions to ensure the safety and security of peacekeeping personnel and limited steps to address the difficulty in navigating complex political dynamics on the ground.
The UN peacekeeping missions play a crucial role in protecting civilians, promoting stability and facilitating peace negotiations in conflict zones around the world. UN peacekeepers have established peace in many countries in Asia, Africa and other regions including, but not limited to, South Sudan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. It is desired that the attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and their causes be addressed. Strengthening security measures at the United Nations peacekeeping missions, implementing stricter rules for the engagement of such missions and holding perpetrators accountable can be helpful in reducing the chance of attacks on UN peacekeepers in different countries— many times.
But collaborating with host countries to improve security cooperation, strengthening communications with warring parties and working with locals may help improve protection and gain their support and cooperation many times. Strengthening the diplomatic influence of powerful countries can reduce the chance of attacks on UN peacekeeping forces by powerful countries many times. The commitment of warring parties is also vital to avoid attacking UN peacekeepers especially when they are not directly at war.
