At least 28 UN staff members killed in violent attacks worldwide in 2009

Dozens of United Nations personnel made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty last year with at least 28 civilian staff members and seven peacekeeping troops killed in deadly attacks, the world body's staff union said today, urging nations to sign a global treaty protecting UN staff. Some 17 UN civilian staff members were killed in separate violent incidents in Pakistan and Afghanistan alone, as well as five who died working for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) during the Israeli military operation against militants in the Gaza Strip and two who lost their lives in Somalia. Among the dead was a 23-year-old Palestinian English teacher working at a UN-run school in Gaza, a Somali monitor for the World Food Programme (WFP) who was shot and dumped onto the road from the WFP truck which the gunmen used to escape, and a Pakistani driver with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who was gunned down during the abduction of John Solecki, the head of the UNHCR office in Quetta in Balochistan province.