Czech soldier killed in Afghanistan to be honoured in memoriam

Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova has said the 28-year-old Czech soldier who died in a landslide in Afghanistan last week will receive a military award in memoriam. Speaking at a military award ceremony on Monday, Mrs Parkanova paid tribute to the soldier, and a minute of silence was observed. The accident occurred on Thursday night when four vehicles carrying Czech soldiers were driving through the mountains some 30 kilometres from the base of the ISAF multinational forces reconstruction team in Fayzabad, north Afghanistan. A landslide caused by heavy rainfall hit one vehicle with two soldiers. Only one of them was alive when rescuers arrived and is now in a stable condition. Further five soldiers suffered light injuries. The 85-member Czech contingent works along with German and Danish soldiers in the Afghan province of Badakhshan. Besides, a Czech field hospital operates at the Kabul international airport.