Staff Reporter:
A Bangladeshi army officer for the first time received the honorary “National Defense Medal–Gold” Level from French government, said an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release yes-terday.
French Ambassador to Bangladesh Jean-Marc Sere-Charlet handed over the honor to Bangladesh Army’s Brigadier General Mohammad Azharul Islam at a modest ceremony at his residence on Tuesday.
Azharul Islam received the medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations.
Brigadier General Azhar served as Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) at the Force Headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) in Mali in 2022–2023, when he held the rank of a Colonel.
During that period, he efficiently coordinated logistics and support activities for more than 13,000 peacekeepers from various countries.
In 2022, following the redeployment of the French military’s “Barkhane” operation from Mali to neigh-boring Niger and Chad, several camps in northern Mali were handed over to the UN mission.
In this complex and sensitive reconfiguration process, the logistics team led by Brigadier General Azhar worked tirelessly to ensure the safe withdrawal of the French contingent and the orderly deployment of UN personnel.
