Indian army colonel in UN peacekeeping operation injured in South Sudan

United Nations, May 29 , 2015: As the UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan struggles with inadequate resources and widening mandates, an Indian Army colonel was injured in crossfire between two warring groups there Thursday, according to sources monitoring the mission in New York. They said the officer was injured in the region of the back of the neck, but not seriously, when a camp in Malakal was hit. Indian peacekeepers are deployed there to protect several thousand refugees. The Secretary General's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, confirmed that a peacekeeper was injured but could not identify him or his nationality. "The UN Mission reports new firing outside of its compound in Malakal," he said. "One peacekeeper was injured." India's Permanent Representative Asoke Kumar Mukerji had warned the Security Council last week about the deteriorating situation there in two letters to its president, Raimonda Murmokaite that IANS has seen. On May 20, he wrote, "It is extremely important that the Security Council take urgent action to prevent any casualties and collateral damage with regard to the Indian troops and internally displaced people (IDPs)" or refugees.