New York, 23 January 2026 (dpa/MIA) - At least 21 United Nations staff members were deliberately killed in the line of duty last year - more than in the two previous years combined, a UN union committee reported on Thursday.

Of those, 12 were UN peacekeepers - personnel deployed to help maintain peace in many parts of the world, the committee said. The remainder were working as civilians.

The 21 deliberately killed is more than the some five killed in 2024 and at least 11 in 2023, the data showed.

Those killed in 2025 came from Bangladesh, Sudan and South Sudan, South Africa, Uruguay, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Kenya, Zambia and the Palestinian territories.

The highest number of deaths, six in total, occurred in the Abyei area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, while there were three each in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.

In addition, 119 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were killed in the Gaza war last year, according to the figures, although they were not deliberately targeted.

Photo: dpa