Czech soldier in Kosovo wounded due to wrong weapon manipulation

A special commission sent to Kosovo on Monday to investigate the case returned to the Czech Republic after one day.

Two immediate commanders of the shooting soldier returned home as well, along with a member of the Czech KFOR mission who caused a car accident in Kosovo, Ruzickova added.

The contingent is commanded by Jan Zarsky, replacing Jiri Kyvala who was dismissed pending the investigation into the case, Ruzickova said.

The future of the immediate commanders of the possible culprit will depend of the investigation results.

The soldier who suffered a shot wound on Saturday was operated on in a U.S. field hospital. At present he is in a stable condition and his life is not threatened.

As soon as his condition allows it, he will be transported to the Central Military Hospital in Prague-Stresovice, Ruzickova noted.

The military police are investigating the Sunday car accident caused by a Czech KFOR soldier in which no one was injured, Ruzickova added.

The Czech contingent in Kosovo has faced several problems lately.

Two weeks ago, chief-of-staff Vlastimil Picek said four members of the Czech KFOR mission in Kosovo had smoked hashish or marijuana in the latter half of October.

The daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) reported on another scandal in the Czech KFOR unit whose members had got drunk and started a fight in September. The wild brawl, reportedly involving their Finnish counterpart, was only quelled by international military police, MfD said.

The core of the 15th KFOR contingent comprises members of the 131st artillery regiment of the 13th artillery brigade from Pardubice, east Bohemia, along with members of the 14th logistic support brigade from Pardubice as well as soldiers from another 54 Czech military units.

A number of scandals surfaced in the Czech military in the past weeks.

Three soldiers who expressed support for Nazism were dismissed from the military. Two of them wore SS insignia on their helmets when they were serving in the Afghan mission.

The third soldier confessed to have helped train the extremist organisation White Justice. It was allegedly preparing terrorist attacks on power plants and other important targets and planning the kidnapping of police and "Jews in high posts."

In mid-November the police arrested a soldier suspected of production and distribution of drugs. He was allegedly growing hemp plants for the production of marijuana that he further distributed to civilian clients.

Two days before, the police detained three employees of the Defence Ministry suspected of possessing and distributing child porn.

Autor: ČTK
www.ctk.cz