It’s been a grim week at the end of a tough year for the United Nations: Six U.N. peacekeepers were killed in a drone attack in Sudan. A U.N. interpreter died while in the custody of South Sudan’s security personnel. And 10 more U.N. staff were detained by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. “It’s a very worrying trend,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Friday. “We see all too often that the U.N. flag — the U.N. emblem — no longer offers the protection that it should to our colleagues.” As examples, he pointed to more than 300 U.N. staff members killed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, almost all of them Palestinians, and over 300 personnel killed during the 10-year U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali. The deadliest in the world, that mission ended in December 2023. “U.N. personnel, whether they are humanitarian, whether they are peacekeepers, whether they’re political envoys, are there for peace,” Dujarric said. “They are there for the people. They need to be respected.”

Full report : 6 peacekeepers and an interpreter killed, while 10 more staffers detained in Yemen.