KATHMANDU, July 16: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Major General of Nepal Army Nirmal Kumar Thapa as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
Major General Thapa succeeds Lieutenant General Ishwar Hamal of Nepal who recently completed his assignment. Lieutenant General Hamal served for two years at the UNDOF in Golan Height-- a disputed area between Israel and Syria.
Major General Hamal appointed Force Commander of UNDOF
Major General Thapa is the seventh NA officer to get an opportunity to serve as Force Commander of the UN peace mission so far. Krishna Narayan Singh Thapa, Victory SJB Rana, Bala Nanda Sharma, Pawan Jung Thapa, Purna Chandra Thapa and Ishwar Hamal have already served as Force Commander of UN peace missions.
Major General Thapa brings over 35 years of experience in various leadership positions in the Nepali Army and the United Nations. At the national level, Major General Thapa served, until recently, as the Director-General of Military Operations.
Prior to that, he served in a variety of assignments, including as the General Officer and as Joint Coordinator at the Secretariat of the National Security Council of Nepal. He previously commanded a Brigade and served as Military Secretary.
Major General Thapa has extensive United Nations peacekeeping experience, having served as a team leader of military observers with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (2010 to 2011) and as a military observer for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) (2002 to 2003). He also served as logistics support company commander in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) (1999) and as platoon commander in the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) (1992).
Major General Thapa holds a master’s degree from the Bangladesh University of Professionals and a Bachelor’s degree from the Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He is fluent in English, Hindi and Urdu and has basic Arabic and French.
