NEW YORK- The United Nations is set to honor at a solemn ceremony on Thursday the sacrifices of more than one hundred peacekeepers, including 2 Pakistanis, who paid the ultimate price in serving the cause of peace in hot spots around the world last year.
The ceremony is being held to mark the annual International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Commemorative activities will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, and at peacekeeping operations and offices around the world.
Currently, nearly 85,000 military personnel, 12,000 police officers as well as 17,000 international civilian and national staff are serving in 16 peacekeeping operations on four continents.
Pakistan is among the largest contributors to peacekeeping with more than 8,000 military and police personnel serving in the UN operations in Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Sudan and Western Sahara. The fallen Pakistan Army soldiers are: Subedar Tanveer Hussain (MONUSCO -- Democratic Republic of Congo) and Major Kamran Khalil (UNMIL -- Liberia).
In a message to mark the Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said 106 peacekeepers perished last year carrying out their sacred duty while serving under the UN flag, bringing the total number of lives lost in the history of peacekeeping to more than 3,200.