Three soldiers withdrawn from Czech Special Forces Group in Kenya

Army Chief of Staff Karel Řehka has withdrawn three soldiers from a training mission in Kenya who face charges in connection with the death of an Afghan prisoner of war in 2018. Their presence in the 10-member Czech Special Forces Group in Kenya came to light during a hearing of Parliament’s Defense Committee looking into a separate incident in which a Kenyan recruit was wounded during training. Facing criticism from Defense Minister Jana Černochová over the soldiers’ continued presence in the Special Forces Group, Řehka countered that the army respects the presumption of innocence and his predecessors who handled the case of the accused soldiers did not find legal grounds for them to be placed off duty.