The bodies of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed in northeastern Congo will be brought home on Monday or Tuesday by a UN-chartered plane, reported the private news agency United News of Bangladesh on Saturday.

According to a statement of Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) of the defense ministry issued here on Saturday, all other Bangladeshi soldiers in Congo are safe and the situation remains under control.

The statement rejected international media reports that another11 Bangladeshi soldiers were injured in the rebel ambush, saying the information "is not correct."

The ISPR Director Lt Col Nazrul Islam confirmed that there were no Bangladeshi soldiers wounded in the attack, except for the nine slain troopers.

Islam said 48 Bangladeshi peacekeepers had earlier been killed in different incidents including road and mine accidents or plane crash, but this is for the first time that Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed in an ambush since their participation in UN peacekeeping mission in 1990.

The nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers were killed on Friday when two UN foot patrols were ambushed in Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A contingent of some 1,300 Bangladeshi soldiers has been working in Congo under the UN peacekeeping mission since July 2003,while at present a total of 8,009 Bangladeshi soldiers are working with 12 peacekeeping missions under the aegis of the UN around the world.

Source: Xinhua