Lance Naik Adil Jan, a Pakistani soldier, embraced martyrdom while on duty in Sudan as part of an UN peacekeeping mission, the ISPR said in a statement on Saturday.
Jan, a member of the Frontier Corps Balochistan, was sent to the UN mission in Darfur, where he was in charge of protecting people and facilitating humanitarian aid.
In Darfur, the soldier was assigned to the African Union Hybrid Operation. He was from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district.
Jan “passed away” on September 9, according to Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, “shortly after being taken ill while on duty at El Fasher.”
The soldier “will be fondly remembered as a dedicated, highly knowledgeable and professional”, it added.
Lance Naik Adil Jan was posted at the African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur. On 9 Sep 2021 shortly after being taken ill while on duty in El Fasher, he passed away.
He will be fondly remembered as a dedicated, highly knowledgeable & professional @UNPeacekeeping 👏 pic.twitter.com/33v0NHsnK9
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) September 10, 2021
As many as 161 Pakistani peacekeepers have died as part of global peace operations for international peace and stability, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Pakistan maintains a health personnel unit in Darfur and is one of the longest-serving and biggest contributions to UN peacekeeping.
Pakistan’s first UN peacekeeping operation took place in Congo in 1960, and over 200,000 Pakistani troops have since served in 60 missions across 28 countries. As part of 14 continuing UN operations, Pakistan still has over 7,000 troops stationed in nine countries.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Pakistani women’s contributions to peacekeeping during his visit to the country last year. He had said, “Pakistan is a leader in championing women peacekeepers and an example for other troop contributors,” he had said.
