Funeral for Chinese guard killed in Somalia

An officer salutes the coffin of Chinese guard Zhang Nan, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Somalia, during his funeral at the Mausoleum of Martyrs in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, Aug. 2, 2015. Zhang Nan, 28, was a security officer in Chinese embassy in Somalia. The remains of Zhang was returned to Jinan on Saturday night, with another two wounded guards escorting his coffin. China's Armed Police Force posthumously conferred a badge of "loyal guard" on Zhang. (Xinhua/Fu Xinchun)

JINAN, Aug. 2 -- A ceremony was held in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, on Sunday for people to pay their last respects to a Chinese guard killed in a terrorist attack in Somalia.

China's Armed Police Force posthumously conferred a badge of "loyal guard" on Zhang Nan, who served in a detachment in Shandong's Linyi City before he was sent to Somalia to be a security officer in the Chinese embassy in 2014.

He served with the force for 11 years.

The eulogy praised Zhang's skill and courage at an event attended by about 1,000 people, including representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Shandong provincial government and the armed police force.

Militant group Al-Shabaab launched a suicide attack on the Jazeera Palace Hotel in Mogadishu at around 4 p.m. local time on July 26, killing more than a dozen people.

The six-story luxury hotel in the Somali capital houses embassies from China, Egypt, Kenya and Qatar, and hosts high-level government meetings.

Zhang's remains were returned to Jinan on Saturday evening, with another two wounded guards escorting his coffin.

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