6 Pakistani Martyrs Awarded Medals of Courage at the United Nations

Six Pakistanis UN peacekeepers, who embraced martyrdom in a helicopter crash in March this year, were awarded UN medals of courage on Thursday for sacrificing their lives for the cause of peace.

Five of the six — Tahir Ikram, Tahir Mehmood, Mohammed Naeem, Adil Jan, and Mohammed Shafiq — were from the armed forces, while Ibrar Syed was the only civilian.

At the UN Headquarters, Secretary-General, António Guterres, laid a wreath to honor the nearly 4,200 United Nations peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

Later, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal of Courage was awarded posthumously to 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, including six Pakistanis, who laid their lives while serving under the UN flag during the past year.

Captain Abdelrazakh Hamit Bahar of Chad posthumously received the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage.” Major Winnet Zaharare of Zimbabwe received the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award and was declared a champion of gender equality.

Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, received the awards.

“We are committed to helping the vulnerable communities affected by conflict and will continue to adapt to the changing environment and needs of the peacekeeping operations,” Akram said.

“We share the grief of their families and will never forget these heroes who won respect and recognition for their homeland,” he added.

The heart-wrenching incident took place on 29 March when a Puma helicopter carrying eight UN peacekeepers, including six Pakistanis on a reconnaissance mission, crashed in the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Confirming the development, the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) issued a brief statement, saying:

“Pakistan has always played a pivotal role as a responsible member of the international community to help realize ideals of global peace and security through active participation in various UN Peacekeeping missions. Our Peacekeepers have always distinguished themselves in executing challenging peacekeeping tasks in conflict-prone areas through devotion and, if necessary, rendering supreme sacrifices,” the ISPR added.



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