Slain Pakistani peacekeeper to be honoured at UN

Naik Muhammad Naeem Raza embraced martyrdom in 2018 when his convoy was ambushed by armed rebels in Congo

Naik Muhammad Naeem Raza, the Pakistani UN peacekeeper who was shot dead by ‘members of an armed group’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, will be awarded Dag Hammarskjold Medal in New York on Friday.

Pakistani peacekeeper shot dead in DR Congo

The ceremony is being held to mark the annual International Day of Peacekeepers.

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will award the medals during a ceremony to 119 military, police and civilian peacekeepers.

The UN peacekeepers, who will be awarded, lost their lives in the year 2018 and early 2019.

On Friday at a Medal Award ceremony SG@antonioguterres will honour UN Peacekeepers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. Naik Muhammad Naeem Raza from Pakistan who embraced shahadat in Democratic Republic of Congo will be recognised & his courage & memory honored pic.twitter.com/ia5WHL60rZ

— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) May 21, 2019

Raza was serving in the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), when a Pakistani Peacekeeping Convoy was ambushed by armed rebels near Lulimba, 96 km South-West of Baraka, South Kivu Province.

During the exchange of fire, he embraced martyrdom while sepoy Bilal got injured.

Guterres had also condemned the killing of the Pakistani peacekeeper in the troubled province.