KATHMANDU: The number of Nepali soldiers stationed in the conflict-affected areas for peacekeeping mission at the call of the United Nations has exceeded 6,000.

With the deployment of 202 peacekeepers in the last batch of the Light Infantry Battalion in the Central African Republic on December 13, the number of Nepalese forces deployed in peacekeeping missions has reached 6,016.

After Nepal became a member of the United Nations (UN) in 1955, Nepali security personnel also started participating in the world to establish peace in various conflict-affected countries. In 1958, Nepal started its peace-making journey by deploying 5 military observers in Lebanon. Then, for the first time in Egypt, a team of old Gurkha battalions were deployed as peacekeepers wearing ‘blue helmets’.

According to the Nepal Army sources, in the journey of peacekeeping for more than 6 decades, the Nepal Army has deployed 142,585 soldiers in 44 missions. The number includes 1,982 female soldiers.

So far, 71 peacekeepers of the Nepal Army have lost their lives and 68 have been injured in the journey of world peace.