Six Pakistani officers and Soliders were among eight United Nations peacemakers who lost their lives as a Puma copter crashed while bearing a surveillance charge in Congo, the service’s media affairs sect said on Tuesday.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the six Pakistani martyred officers and dogfaces were linked as Lt Col Asif Ali Awan, who was the airman, Maj Saad Nomani, who was the co-pilot, Maj Faizan Ali, naib subedar Samiullak Khan, who was the flight mastermind, havaldar Muhammad Ismail, who was the crew chief and shaft havaldar Muhamad Jamil, who was the gunner.
Exact cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained, the ISPR said.
The statement said an aeronautics charge of Pakistan was stationed in UN Mission Congo on peacekeeping duties since 2011.
“Pakistan has always played a vital part as a responsible member of the transnational community to help realise ideals of global peace and security through active support in colorful UN peacekeeping operations,”the statement read.
“Our peacemakers have always distinguished themselves in executing grueling peacekeeping tasks in conflict-prone areas through devotion and, if necessary, (by) rendering supreme offerings.”
