Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers, who lost their lives while serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in Kadugli, Sudan, have been posthumously honored with the prestigious UN Dag Hammarskjöld Medal.

The honors were conferred at a ceremony organized at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday (June 5, local time) to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres presented the medals to Ambassador Salauddin Noman Chowdhury, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations.

The award recognizes the courage, self-sacrifice, and dedication of these heroes in establishing international peace and security.

The six honored peacekeepers are Corporal Md. Masud Rana, Private Md. Jahangir Alam, Private Md. Sabuj Miah, Private Md.

Mominul Islam, Private Shamim Reza, and Private Santo Mondal. They were killed in a drone attack on December 13, 2025, while serving under the UN flag.

At the ceremony, the UN Secretary-General led a one-minute silence to honor the memory of nearly 4,500 peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1948.

He also paid deep tribute to the contributions of more than 50,000 peacekeepers currently deployed in various missions worldwide.

This year, 68 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers from 33 member states were posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal.

Following the ceremony, Ambassador Salauddin Noman Chowdhury signed the main condolence book to pay homage to the fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is a unique posthumous honor established by the UN Security Council in 1997.

It is awarded annually to provide ultimate recognition for the extraordinary contributions and supreme sacrifices of military, police, and civilian personnel who lose their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping operations.