Since joining United Nations peacekeeping missions in 1957, Indonesia has seen “only” 37 soldiers die in the field
ince joining United Nations peacekeeping missions in 1957, Indonesia has seen “only” 37 soldiers die in the field. Most of them, however, were killed in road accidents, instead of conflicts, a top Indonesian diplomat says.
Febrian A. Ruddyard, director general for multilateral cooperation at the Foreign Ministry, said that Indonesian peacekeeping soldiers were assigned as ceasefire guard troops, not as strike units. Hence, almost none of the deceased troopers died in combat, said Febrian, adding that he could not recall the exact number.
Most recently, Chief Pvt. Nasri bin Bahri, died in Al Geneina, Darfur, Sudan, in a road accident on July 3. Nasri was a member of Garuda Contingent XXXV, a composite engineering task force serving under the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). It was the first Indonesian peacekeeper fatality in the past five years, Febrian said.
Nasri and four other soldiers were on escort duty to a point 25 kilometers from the Indobatt Camp. He reportedly lost control of the military vehicle he was driving because of the difficult desert terrain and bad weather and it tipped onto its left side.
“Nasri died when he was on duty. The others survived but had several injuries,” Febrian said during a media trip to Garut and Bandung, West Java, on Friday in which Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi also took part.
The four other soldiers suffered from severe injuries, including fractures, Febrian said. Two of them are still in a Nigerian UN hospital while the others returned to their camp for further treatment. Meanwhile, Nasri was buried with full military honors on Friday in his hometown in Kota Daro, South Sumatra.
Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. M. Sabrar Fadhilah said Nasri was promoted posthumously to second corporal for his services and sacrifice, while on Thursday, Retno expressed her grief on Twitter.
“My deep sorrow for the death of Praka Nasri bin Bahri, who was killed in an accident while carrying out duties as a UN Peacekeeper from Indonesia in UNAMID,” she said. “Hopefully the family will be given strength in this time of grief. The service of the deceased will be remembered and become the pride of Indonesia.”
Grata Endah Werdaningtyas, the ministry’s director of international security and disarmament, said the fundamental mandate of peacekeepers was “to prevent conflicts from breaking out again”.
“Peacekeeping troops, hence, are assigned to areas prone to conflict relapse and to, among other things, establish good relations with local communities and actively reduce tensions.”
Indonesian peacekeepers had shown satisfying performance in preventing the reoccurrence of conflicts in their designated areas. Therefore, these soldiers rarely got shot at.
“However, we should understand that an accident can happen anywhere, either in a shootout or peaceful situation,” Grata said.
Based on TNI data, 800 Indonesian personnel are deployed in Darfur: 54 officers, 189 non-commissioned officers, 541 enlisted soldiers and 16 female soldiers.
UN data shows that from 1948 to June 30, 2018, a total of 3,755 peacekeeping soldiers have died. Of them, 1,319 died by accident, 1,187 from illness, 1,001 because of malicious acts and the remaining in connection to other issues.
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