Ethiopia is the biggest UN peacekeeping troops contributor nation in the world

Tigrai Online November 13, 2014

Ethiopia’s peacekeeping history under the United Nations flag is very long. As the founder member of the United Nations Ethiopia has been contributing troops to UN peace keeping missions around the world for decades.

Some of the old and famous peacekeeping missions Ethiopia have contributed significant numbers of troops are the Korean and Congo wars.

In the 1950s Korean War Ethiopia sent 3,518 troops to help the international community stop the spread of communism and separate the two Koreans. The Ethiopian troops were led by General Mulugeta Buli and despite their poor training and inferior weapons, the Ethiopian troops fought very well. The Ethiopian troops fought bare feet and they became legendary for their bravery and their tactics. It is said at one of the battles the Ethiopians did use their ingenuity to scare the enemy soldiers out of their wits.  Facing a superior army of the combined Chinese and North Korean armies the Ethiopian troops were loosing ground.  In the middle of pitched battle ground some of the Ethiopian soldiers took the raw meat they had for food and started eating chunks of eat sitting by the bodies of enemy soldiers.  The soldiers on the other side thought they were eating the dead bodies and fled the scene. By doing this trick they won the battle it is reported. Ethiopia also sent peace keepers to Congo in the 1960.

In the photo an Ethiopian peacekeeper soldier is holding and comforting a child in Congo in 1961

According to an article by Dr. Mehari T. Maru In present day Ethiopia is one of the top contributing countries in the world. With 12,247 troops under United Nations Peacekeeping Support Operations and AMISOM, Ethiopia is the biggest troop-contributing nation in the world.

Please read the article by Dr. Mehari