Pyrotechnist Miroslav Staník who was in the Slovak unit targeted by a rogue Afghan security staffer in Kandahar in July 2013 was awarded the Military Deed of the Year on June 18 by Defence Minister Martin Glváč.
During the shooting at the Kandahar base, Staník took two severely wounded Slovak servicemen to a safe place, thereby helping them survive. The attack which claimed the life of Slovak Sergeant-Major Daniel Kavuliak, was committed by a member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) identified as Lambar Khan at the military air base in Kandahar on July 9. The two seriously-injured soldiers were then transported on board a specially-equipped aircraft to the US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
“One still has an urge to run after the Afghani who wounded my comrades and killed Daniel,” said Staník at the awards ceremony, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “Many people think that we didn’t do the right thing by not shooting him, but I’ll always believe that it’s better to save two lives than to take one.” Staník himself was almost miraculously saved by his military knife, which he was wearing on his belt and which stopped the bullet that would have otherwise hit him.
The accused Afghan shooting suspect escaped from prison just days after his arrest.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
