A US aircraft carrying the two Slovak soldiers seriously injured in the attack at the military base in Kandahar on Tuesday, July 9 has landed at Ramstein air base in Germany, and then immediately transferred to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, according to the TASR newswire.
Armed Forces spokesman Milan Vanga said the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is the biggest military hospital run by the U.S. Army outside the United States. It was and is the central point for providing specialist medical care to soldiers injured in various military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The two soldiers will undergo further medical treatment at the U.S. military hospital and will remain there until they're fit enough to be transferred to Slovakia," said Chief-of-General-Staff Peter Vojtek. The C-17 aircraft, which is specially equipped to carry patients with serious injuries, took off shortly after 3:00 CET from Kandahar and landed in Germany at 11:40. Both injured soldiers are reported to be in stable condition. One remains in an induced coma.
The Sme daily wrote in its Friday issue that the Afghan soldier who on Tuesday shot from behind at Slovak soldiers of the ISAF mission, killing one and injuring six, is likely to tried in Afghan courts. He may even face the death penalty by hanging, according to local laws. To execute the death penalty, approval of the Afghan president is necessary. An Afghani police officer who killed five French NATO soldiers did received the death penalty. The man who shot at the Slovak unit is identified only as having served in the army for two years and coming from the north-eastern province of Laghman.
(Source: TASR, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
