Colonel Anup Bikram Rana was commissioned into the Nepali Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1995 from the Nepali Military Academy. Colonel Rana brings over 30 years of distinguished military service. He is a graduate of the Higher Command and Management Course at the Nepali Army War College and the Army Command and Staff Course in Nepal. He also holds a master’s degree in strategic studies and political science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Colonel Rana has completed a wide range of specialized military training, both nationally and internationally. His notable international training includes the Special Forces Officers Qualification Course (Green Beret) at Fort Bragg, the Hostage Negotiation Course in the USA, and the International Urban Search and Rescue Course in Singapore. He has also participated in various disaster response exercises, seminars, and conferences across the Asia-Pacific region. His UN training includes the United Nations Logistics Officer Course (UNLOG) in Malaysia, the UN Force Protection Reinforcement Training Package in Brindisi, Italy and the UN Civil-Military Coordination Course in Nepal.

Throughout his career, Colonel Rana has held numerous command and staff appointments. His command roles include Officer Commanding of an Independent Company, Commanding Officer of both an Infantry Battalion and a Special Forces Battalion, and Commandant of the Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre (BPOTC) in Nepal.

His staff experience includes key roles as Operations Officer, Training Officer and deputy commander at both battalion and brigade levels. Notably, he served as Aide-de-Camp to the Prime Minister of Nepal. He was later appointed to oversee the security of the President, a role that underscored the high level of trust placed in his leadership.

Colonel Rana also brings extensive United Nations Peacekeeping experience, having served in five missions: UNMISET (East Timor) – Staff Officer, Operations Cell (2003–2004), ONUB (Burundi) – Company Commander, Special Forces Company-IV (2006), UNMIS (Sudan) – Military Observer (2009–2010), UNDOF (Syria) – MA to the DFC (2013–2014), UNAMI (Iraq) – CLO (2018–2019).

Colonel Rana’s broad operational background, combined with his strategic insight and dedication, equips him to continue to serve and contribute significantly to UNDOF’s mission of maintaining peace and stability in the Golan Heights.

Colonel Anup Bikram Rana assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on 23 July 2025.