UN to posthumously honor 6 Bangladeshi peacekeepers

Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers who lost their lives while serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei will be awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal posthumously. A UN press release said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will award the medal at a ceremony to be held at the UN Headquarters in New York on June 5 to mark the UN Peacekeepers' Day.

The six peacekeepers who received the medal are Md. Jahangir Alam, Md. Sabuj Mia, Md. Masud Rana, Md. Mominul Islam, Shamim Reza and Santa Mandal. They were killed in a drone attack while serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force (UNISFA) in Abyei on December 13, 2025.

A total of 68 military, police and civilian peacekeepers, including 59 who died last year, will be awarded the medal posthumously at the ceremony. The Secretary-General will also lay a wreath in memory of the nearly 4,500 peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1948.

Bangladesh is currently the world's fourth largest contributor of military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping missions. More than 4,000 Bangladeshi personnel, including 277 women, are serving in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Libya, South Sudan and Western Sahara.

This year, the theme of the day was 'Investing in Peace'. In his message on the day, the UN Secretary-General said that peacekeeping is a proven and cost-effective way to restore stability and hope, but it requires consistent political support and reliable financial support.