On Sunday, the traditional memorial service for all the Belgian soldiers that have lost their lives in action since the Second World War was held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Congress Column in Brussels. The ceremony was attended by high-ranking representatives of the Royal Household, the army and the federal government.
The date on which the ceremony takes place, 7 April, is particularly significant as it was on this date in 1994 that 10 Belgian paratroopers were ambushed and killed in Rwanda.
At the time, the soldiers were part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country that was ruled by Belgium before it became independent in 1962.
After the traditional wreath-laying ceremony, the names of all the Belgian soldiers that have been killed while serving with the military since 1945 were read out.
These included those killed during the Korean War and during peace missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.