The United Nations posthumously honored Moroccan Corporal Karim Temara for his service as a peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Temara died in 2024 from electrocution while serving with the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO.
The ceremony took place on May 29 in New York, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid tribute to fallen peacekeepers around the world.
Temara was posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, in honor of UN personnel killed in action.
The tribute also included another Moroccan soldier killed earlier this month in a traffic accident in North Kivu, in which four others were injured.
Guterres called the deployment of peacekeepers “one of humanity’s noblest missions” and noted that more than 4,400 peacekeepers have lost their lives since 1948, including 57 in 2024.
A military parade took place before the ceremony. Three Moroccan officers were decorated by senior UN officials Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Atul Khare.
The UN expressed its gratitude for Morocco’s loyal and significant contribution to peacekeeping missions.
Morocco is among the ten largest military contributors to UN peacekeeping operations. Currently, 1,714 Moroccan soldiers are participating in missions in the Congo (MONUSCO) and the Central
African Republic (MINUSCA), where they help ensure stability and security in regions ravaged by conflict and crisis.
MK/ac/fss/as/APA