RAWALPINDI, May 28: Nine Pakistani peacekeepers who laid their lives in 2005 are among those who will be remembered on the occasion of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers being observed on Monday.

The Pakistani peacekeepers who lost their lives serving UN peacekeeping missions were: Sepoy Munir Ahmed (MONUC, Congo); Havaldar Bashir Ahmed (UNMIL, Liberia); Sepoy Mohammad Amir (ONUB, Burundi); Khatib Abdul Latif Chishti (UNMIL, Liberia); Lance Naik Sadaqat Hussain (UNMIL, Liberia); Naik Zaigham Hussain (MONU, Congo); Lance Naik Noor Jamal (MONUC, Congo); Lance Naik Inzar Ahmed Khan (ONUB, Burundi); and Sepoy Abdul Zafran (UNOCI, Cote d’Ivoire).

“In honour of their memory, we dedicate ourselves to continuing their mission. We share the grief of their loved ones and pledge ourselves to ensuring that their sacrifices in the service of the United Nations will not have been in vain,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in memoriam of those fallen in the cause of peace during 2005.

“Our fallen colleagues went out into the world with the conviction that their service could make a difference between war and peace, poverty and security, oppression and freedom.

“They showed in their work and in their lives that human conflict is not inevitable, that poverty can be departed, and that the promise of peace and tolerance exists among all peoples,” Mr Annan said.

Pakistan ranks second among the countries contributing troops to the United Nations peacekeeping missions. As of March 31, 2006, the strength of Pakistani troops is 9,638, while the number of police force is 459. Bangladesh topped with 10,255 troops, while India ranked third with 9,061 troops.

In his message on Peacekeepers Day, Mr Annan said the leading contributors, by far, are India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which collectively provide more than 40 per cent of UN peacekeepers — and, as a result, have also suffered some of the highest losses.

At a special ceremony in New York on 31 May, the Dag Hammarskjold Medal will be awarded posthumously to military, police and civilian personnel, both international and national staff, who lost their lives serving in the UN peacekeeping operations.

More peacekeepers died in the service of UN in 2005 than in any other year in the last decade. A total of 124 peacekeepers lost their lives to violence, disease and accidents. A further 32 have fallen in the line of duty so far in 2006, according to information released by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York.