A loud, screeching alarm pierced through the otherwise peaceful evening in a stretch of the Malian desert in West Africa around 7:30pm. The resting Bangladeshi soldiers -- stationed in the Saharan country as part of a UN peacekeeping mission -- sprung into action at the siren.

At least two Bangladeshis, who are part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), were killed and two others were injured in a road crash on Saturday evening.

The United Nations is to honour 129 military, police and civilian personnel, including four Bangladeshi peacekeepers, who lost their lives while in the service of peace during 2017, on June 1.