Bodies of six Bangladeshi peacekeepers likely to arrive home 20 Dec

The bodies of six UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh are likely to arrive in Dhaka from Sudan on 20 December, the Bangladesh Army said in a press release on Wednesday.

Upon their repatriation, funeral rites will be held with due honour, it said.

Meanwhile, the Army has updated the number of injured peacekeepers to nine, up from eight earlier.

“All injured peacekeepers have been provided with the highest level of medical care at the earliest possible time,” read the release.

Currently, the injured peacekeepers are receiving treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi and one of them has already been discharged, the Army said, adding that all of them are out of danger.

On 13 December, six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and a total of nine others injured in a drone attack carried out by a separatist armed group on a United Nations peacekeeping base in Sudan’s Abyei region.

The fallen peacekeepers are Corporal Md Masud Rana of Natore; Soinik Md Mominul Islam of Kurigram; Soinik Shamim Reza of Rajbari; Soinik Shanta Mondal of Kurigram; Mess Waiter Mohammad Jahangir Alam of Kishoreganj; and Laundry Worker Md Sabuj Mia of Gaibandha.