The annual ceremony to mark the “Memorial Service” to honour United Nations peacekeepers who lost their lives in service of peace was held at the Trusteeship Council of United Nations Secretariat on Wednesday.
Between January 2015 and June 2016, a total of 211 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty were remembered and each name was pronounced in the Trusteeship Council in presence of the full house including the names of seven fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers.
They are Sergeant Md Shahidul Islam (UNOCI, Ivory Coast, 2015), Sainik Sree Nilkanth Hajong (MINUSMA, Mali, 2015), Constable Motahar Hosen (MINUSMA, Mali, 2016), Constable Mohammad Samidul Islam (MINUSMA, Mali, 2016), Sub-Inspector Moinul A. Khan (UNAMID, Sudan 2015), Lance Corporal Md Mozibor Rahman (UNMIL, Liberia, 2015 and Sergeant Md Shahidul Islam (UNOCI, Ivory Coast, 2015).
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended it as the chief guest, according to message received here on Thursday.
The programme was also joined, among others, by Peter Thomson, President of the General Assembly and Vitaly I. Churkin, President of the Security Council and Ambassador of Permanent Representative of Russia. The programme started with the lighting of candle by the Chief Guest, President of General Assembly and President of the Security Council.
The Secretary General paid his deepest tribute to the families of the fallen peacekeepers and recognized their selfless sacrifice for the cause of global peace. A few families of the fallen peacekeepers also graced the occasion. Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations Masud Bin Momen and its Defence Adviser Brigadier General AKM Akhtaruzzaman attended the ceremony.
