A Cambodian peacekeeper has died of malaria, serving a mission in the western African nation of Mali.
Suon Sambo, 32, was hospitalized in Senegal earlier this month, but he succumbed to the disease on Monday, officials said.
Last year, one member of a force of 300 Cambodian peacekeepers in Mali died of food poisoning.
Phal Samorn, a spokesman the National Center for Peacekeeping, told VOA Khmer Wednesday that UN officials are preparing to send the body of Suon Sambo to Phnom Penh. He will receive a military parade in his hometown in Kandal province.
The Ministry of Defense offered its condolences on Tuesday, calling Suon Sambo “a brilliant specialist soldier, who dedicated all his best to the nation.”
Cambodia has sent some 3,000 peacekeepers abroad since 2006, mainly for mine clearance in Africa and the Middle East.
