Three Bangladeshis among fallen peacekeepers honoured by UN

Three Bangladeshi peacekeepers, who died while serving in Mali, has been honoured by the UN.

Bangladesh Army Soldier Md Abdul Bashar and Bangladesh Police Constables Motaher Hosen and Md Samidul Islam were among the 117 peacekeepers of 43 countries awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal.

Bashar died on Oct 13 last year while the policemen on May 15 the same year.

Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Masud Bin Momen received the medals on behalf of them at the UN while observing the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

The permanent mission to the UN of Bangladesh said in a statement that the ceremony opened with Secretary General Antonio Guterres laying floral wreath at the Peacekeeping Memorial Site at UN headquarters in New York.

“Those we honour today died while protecting the world’s most vulnerable people and supporting countries in making the difficult transition from conflict to peace,” the statement quoted the UN chief saying.

One of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions, Bangladesh lost a total 133 peacekeepers since 1989, when it started sending peacekeepers to conflict-stricken countries, the statement read.