177 Bangladeshi peacekeepers sacrificed their lives for global peace: HM

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A total of 177 Bangladeshi personnel, including 153 members of the armed forces and 24 police officers, have died while serving in support of global peace, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told Parliament on Wednesday.

He disclosed the figures while responding to a question from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami MP Abdul Gafur during the parliamentary question-and-answer session.

In response to a question from National Citizen Party (NCP) MP Atiqur Rahman Mujahid, the home minister outlined government plans to strengthen and modernise the Bangladesh Army.

He said the government was implementing several planned initiatives to enhance the Army's capabilities, including procuring advanced military equipment through government-to-government arrangements with countries such as the United States, Russia, China, Türkiye and Pakistan.

The armed forces are also manufacturing different types of military equipment. The government is accelerating technology transfer arrangements with reputed foreign companies to support domestic production of modern weapons.

Salahuddin added that the government had initiated plans to establish a second Bangladesh Ordnance Factory in Chattogram, with the aim of making the country's defence industry self-reliant and export-oriented.

Agricultural and non-agricultural khas land

Land Minister Mizanur Rahman Minu told Parliament, in response to a question from Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, that 494,869 families had received 122,544.307 acres of agricultural khas land between the 2011-12 and 2025-26 financial years.

Replying to another question from BNP MP Selina Sultana, he said Bangladesh had 1,825,207.74 acres of agricultural khas land, of which 1,328,445.2745 acres were available for distribution.

During the 2025-26 financial year, 190.01 acres were eligible for allocation, and 1,882 landless families received agricultural khas land.

The country also has 2,104,375.9109 acres of non-agricultural khas land, including 112,723 acres available for allocation, the minister said.

Agricultural research and seed storage

Agriculture Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid said the country had 3,529 agricultural seed storage facilities, of which 3,296 remained unused.

Responding to a question from BNP MP Lutfur Rahman Kajal, he said researchers under the National Agricultural Research System had developed more than 1,193 high-yielding and stress-tolerant crop varieties, along with 1,775 modern agricultural technologies, to strengthen food and nutrition security.

Plans for a new international airport

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat said the government planned to build a new international airport with multiple runways near Dhaka to meet future growth in passenger and cargo traffic and establish Bangladesh as an international aviation hub.

Responding to another question from BNP MP Lutfur Rahman Kajal, he said Biman Bangladesh Airlines currently operated 19 aircraft.

Agreements had been signed to purchase 35 aircraft, comprising 25 from Boeing and 10 from Airbus. The Boeing aircraft are scheduled to join Biman's fleet between 2031 and 2035, while the Airbus aircraft are expected to be delivered between 2033 and 2035.

Forest land encroachment and climate funding

Forest and Environment Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo told Parliament that around 217,000 acres of government forest land were under illegal occupation. He said the government had taken various initiatives to recover the encroached land.

Responding to a separate question from reserved-seat MP Mahabuba Hakim, he said 88,215 individuals and commercial entities were involved in illegally occupying forest land. Joint eviction operations were underway to recover the areas.

The minister also said the government had allocated Tk42,51,71,94,700 to the Climate Change Trust Fund from its revenue budget over 18 financial years, from 2009-10 to 2026-27, to address climate-related risks.

In reply to a question from BNP MP Helen Jerin Khan, Mintoo said government statistics showed that forest land accounted for 15.58% of Bangladesh's total area.