The Slovak army unit attacked by an Afghan soldier at the beginning of July in Kandahar could not have prevented the shooting, during which one man died and another six were injured. Such were the preliminary results of an inspection carried out by a commission in Afghanistan appointed by the head of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces. The inspection also showed that no security rules were violated, the SITA newswire reported on July 23.
The members of the Slovak military unit were making a reconnaissance of the terrain and access roads to Kandahar military base at the time of the attack. The gunman started shooting from a tower outside the military base during a stop made by the soldiers, with the direct attack lasting about three minutes, according to Peter Vojtek, the head of the general staff.
“All the injuries were caused in the first seconds of the incident and there was no chance to prevent them,” Vojtek said, as quoted by SITA, adding that the results also showed that the soldiers' quick response prevented further injuries and deaths.
Vojtek also said that the weaponry and equipment of soldiers at the time of shooting was in compliance with the security rules, as reported by SITA.
According to reports, the attacker's name was Lamber Khan and he was a member of the Afghan National Army. He attacked the Slovak soldiers on July 9 near the Kandahar Airfield base in a so-called 'green-on-blue' attack, in which Afghan service personnel turn their weapons on coalition forces.
During the shooting Daniel Kavuliak, a 35-year-old sergeant-major, died, while another six soldiers were injured. Two of them, suffering serious injuries, were transported to a US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, on July 11.
The attacker, who was initially apprehended by coalition forces, soon afterwards escaped custody, reportedly with the help of his Afghan guard. The Afghan Taliban have confirmed that they were cooperating with the gunman, SITA reported.
Source: SITA
For more information about this story please see: Slovak soldier killed in Afghanistan
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
