Wounded NZ soldier recovering in Germany

21 June 2004

WELLINGTON – A New Zealand special services soldier wounded in Afghanistan who was flown to a hospital in Germany is expected to make a full recovery, the New Zealand Herald reported Monday.

The defence department said the soldier was being treated at a hospital on the Ramstein Airforce Base in Germany for a gunshot wound he suffered during an attack on Friday.

The soldier, who was not named for security reasons, will return to New Zealand when he is well enough to travel. Another soldier wounded in the attack has already returned to his unit.

Major General Martyn Dunne, joint forces commander, said the special forces unit in Afghanistan had been operating on its own “a long, long way from the normal conventional forces”.

New Zealand did not have any special arrangements with the German Government for the soldier to be taken there but there had been no question of lack of German co-operation.

Defence Minister Mark Burton said the soldier had been evacuated from Afghanistan under support arrangements New Zealand had with the United States.

DPA

Subject: German news