UN peacekeeping: Denmark and Pakistan push for accountability over attacks on troops

Denmark and Pakistan have tabled a draft UN Security Council resolution urging an end to what they describe as near-total impunity for those responsible for attacks on UN peacekeepers.

The proposal is expected to come up for a vote shortly. Seen by Arab News, the text frames the issue as a persistent accountability failure that has “undermined the safety and security” of UN personnel deployed in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones.

It notes that prosecution rates for crimes against peacekeepers remain “very low,” despite repeated incidents of violence targeting UN missions.

The move comes amid renewed concern over peacekeeper safety. Since the latest escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in early March, seven personnel serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon have been killed. On Thursday, two Malaysian peacekeepers were lightly injured after a nearby airstrike caused shattered glass to strike their vehicle close to a UN position in Tibnin.

Denmark and Pakistan, both elected members of the Security Council, have made peacekeeping a central priority during their current two-year term. Alongside South Korea, they form part of an informal “peacekeeping trio” seeking to renew focus on UN field missions and their protection.

At the heart of the draft resolution is a call for stronger accountability. It urges host states to take primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting those behind attacks on peacekeepers, and calls on all parties to cooperate with the UN to ensure swift identification and prosecution of perpetrators.

The text also states that host countries must take “all necessary measures” in line with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

It highlights a long-standing gap in the UN system: the absence of a dedicated mechanism to systematically pursue accountability for such crimes. To address this, the draft proposes the appointment of a senior focal point within the UN to improve coordination and encourages member states to deploy trained investigators to assist local authorities when peacekeepers are targeted.

The language of the resolution underscores growing concern over the evolving threat landscape facing “blue helmets,” noting an increase in the “number, scope and sophistication” of attacks, including shelling, improvised explosive devices and unmanned aerial systems in missions across Africa and the Middle East.

The draft warns that the Security Council could consider further steps if progress remains limited.

Since 2013, at least 251 peacekeepers have been killed in malicious attacks in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali alone—around 80% of such deaths globally—while accountability for perpetrators remains limited.