Staff reporter :
The bodies of six Bangladeshi peacekeepers who were killed in a drone attack in Sudan arrived in Dhaka on Saturday morning.
An Emirates Airlines flight carrying the bodies landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, according to a media release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Chief of General Staff of the Bangladesh Army Lieutenant General Mizanur Rahman Shamim received the bodies at the airport.
Senior military and civil officials were present, including representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, the United Nations in Bangladesh, the UN mission deployed in the Abeï area, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Army Headquarters. A one-minute silence was observed to pay tribute to the fallen peacekeepers.
The ISPR said a namaz-e-janaza will be held on Sunday at the Central Mosque of Dhaka Cantonment. After the prayers, the bodies will be sent to their respective hometowns by helicopter and buried with full military honours.
The peacekeepers were killed in a drone attack on the Kadugli logistics base under the United Nations mission in the Abeï area of Sudan on December 13. The attack was carried out by separatist forces.
In the same attack, nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers were injured. Initially, eight soldiers were reported wounded when a UN mission camp in the Abei area came under a drone strike.
Later, another peacekeeper was confirmed injured, bringing the total number of wounded to nine.
According to the ISPR, the injured personnel are receiving treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. One of them has already been discharged, while the remaining peacekeepers are reported to be out of danger.
The ISPR also said the Bangladesh Army continues to closely monitor the situation to ensure the safety and welfare of its peacekeepers deployed in Sudan.
Bangladesh remains one of the leading contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide, with thousands of its military
personnel serving in conflict zones across
the globe.
