The United Nations has honoured at a solemn ceremony 117 military, police and civilian personnel from 43 countries, including five Pakistanis, who lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping operations during 2016. The ceremony marked the annual International Day of Peacekeepers during which the Dag Hammarskjold Medal was awarded posthumously to the peacekeepers who have given their lives for the cause of peace, during the preceding year.
Acting Pakistan Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nabeel Munir, accepted the awards on behalf of the families of fallen peacekeepers. The five Pakistanis peacekeepers are: Havildar Abdul Majeed Khan and Havildar Zishan Ahmed, who served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO ): Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ashraf, who served with the United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI); Naik Qaiser Abbas, who was deployed with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA); and Shabnam Khan who served in a civilian capacity with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).