Dhaka, Aug 1 (UNB) - Two Bangladeshi police personnel, who died in United Nation Peacekeeping Missions (UNPM), have been posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjold medal.

They were the late Assistant Sub-inspector Md Rafiqul Islam, and head constable Md Sawkat Ali.

The medals carry the name of the former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold from Sweden, who died in a plane accident in Africa, although some including former US President Harry Truman doubted it was an accident.

Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad formally handed over the medals to the members of the deceased families in a simply ceremony at the police headquarters on Sunday.

Official sources said ASI Rafique died while performing his duties as part of a UN Peacekeeping mission in Darfur in November last year, while head constable Sawkat Ali died while performing his duty as sentry in the Ivory Coast.

Sawkat joined in Bangladesh police in 1979, while Rafique had followed him in 1980.

Addressing the function to commemorate the deaths, Nur Mohammad said members of the Bangladesh police force have been brightening the country’s image by performing their professional duties in different conflicting countries under UNPM for a number of years now.

The UN currently runs around 15 peacekeeping missions around the world, mostly in Africa. Bangladesh has been lauded for many years as one of the largest contributing countries in terms of troops to these missions