Belgian paratroopers shot during Scottish training exercise
Three Belgian soldiers have been injured in a 'shooting incident' during a training exercise in Scotland, Belgium's defence ministry has said.
The casualties were rushed to hospital after being 'seriously injured' in Monday's gunfire.
Two were said to be stable. Of those, one was expected to undergo surgery before being able to return home.
The third soldier was discharged after only suffering minor injuries.
Around another 12 soldiers suffered hearing damage as a result of the incident. It is believed there was a misfire during a live ammunition exercise.
The incident was reported to have happened during a joint drill at a training centre near Loch Lomond, although the Belgian defence ministry declined to reveal where in Scotland the incident took place.
Last week, it was reported that around 600 Belgian armed forces personnel were in Moray for a large-scale operation, Red Condor.
A spokesman for the Belgian defence ministry said: 'On May 12, during Exercise Red Condor currently taking place in Scotland, three Belgian soldiers were injured.
'They received first aid on site and were then transferred to a regional hospital. In addition, around a dozen soldiers suffered hearing damage.
'Defence authorities have confirmed that the two soldiers who were seriously injured are now in stable condition.
'They have already been able to speak with their families. One of them will undergo surgery in Scotland before being repatriated to Belgium.'
The families of those injured had been informed, the ministry added.
An MoD spokesman said: 'We are aware of an incident during an exercise in Scotland involving foreign national military personnel. Our thoughts are with all those affected.'
Bart De Wever, the Belgian prime minister, offered his condolences to the injured soldiers and their families on X.
'I have received the sad news that three soldiers from the Third Parachute Battalion were injured during an exercise in Scotland,' he wrote.
'I wish the injured a speedy recovery. My thoughts are with their loved ones.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Pensioner care system at risk of 'breaking down completely'
It comes as statistics published this week showed a majority of elderly Scots who took part in a national survey reported unmet needs in social care, with the disabled, poor and those cared for by relatives, most at risk. A total of 48,876 adults aged 65 and over responded to the Scottish Government's health and care experience survey for 2023-24. More than 10,000 said they needed some kind of care, support and help with everyday living. Analysis of the survey revealed that 22% of pensioners reported that they needed or received support over the past 12 months, while 9% of adults reported unmet needs. Of those who said they needed or received support, 43% flagged unmet support needs. The scale of unmet needs soared for disabled adults - 17% compared to 2% of those without a disability. Read more: The survey also revealed the stark issues facing disabled pensioners, with 35% warning they did not receive help that met their needs. Meanwhile, those receiving unfunded support - family care - were more likely to report an unmet need - 42%, compared to 32% receiving state-funded support. Older adults living in the most deprived quintile (SIMD1) were more likely to report experiencing an unmet need (16%), compared with 6% of their more affluent peers. Adam Stachura, director of policy at Age Scotland, told The Herald: 'The result of this survey go to the heart of some of the worst failings in the care system. 'An alarming number of over-65s with care requirements are unable to get any of the support they need and many more are struggling to get by with too little care. 'The effect on older people of not getting the care they need can be catastrophic. Many older respondents, and especially those with disabilities, reported being limited in what daily activities they could do. "Lack of support can also prevent older people maintaining connections among friends, family and in their communities, fuelling the loneliness epidemic affecting older people. 'Interestingly, the survey shows that those who needed support but did not receive any includes older people in both rural and urban settings across the country, which highlights that the shortcomings are a national problem in need of urgent reform. Read more: 'We have called before for the Scottish Government to work with local authorities to fix the social care system. Figures like these should act as a reminder that inaction, and the continued failure to invest and reform, will in effect allow the care system to break down completely, causing untold misery for hundreds of thousands of older people.' The Scottish Government has accepted that the social care system needs "fundamental reform," but said the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, if passed in Holyrood, would achieve this aim. The plans to reform care services costs the Scottish Government around £1 million per month despite dropping plans to set up a national care service. The Bill proposes a raft of changes to care services, including improving the rights of care home residents to visits. A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The health and social care system in Scotland needs fundamental reform and this report supports that. 'We are taking key steps towards delivering that through the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill. If passed by Parliament, it will help improve people's lives and quality of care, while ensuring those who deliver vital services feel supported. 'The UK Government must also play its part in helping us deliver sustainable change by reversing increases to Employment National Insurance Contributions (ENICs) and their plans to end international recruitment – both of which will be devastating for the care sector.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Whithorn boxer says sport helped tackle her postnatal depression
A new mum has credited the sport of boxing with helping her recovery from postnatal McCallum became the first female boxer from Whithorn's Bravehearts Boxing Club to step into the ring last week when she competed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in she lost her first bout, the 29-year-old said what really mattered was her victory over mental health challenges she faced after giving birth for the first time to her now three-year-old daughter."When I had Ella-Rose I was at my lowest," she said. "The Bravehearts gym saved my life." "It's different to any other mental health that you feel," she explained."You can get depression but the postnatal from having a baby is completely different."It makes you not want to be here anymore. People say you get the 'baby blues' but you don't realise how severe it can be."She said that was where the sport had come to her assistance."I found boxing and it's hard to explain, but I've gone from size 16 to size eight, feel brilliant and got my life back," she said. Natasha, who moved from Ayrshire to the remote town of Whithorn in south west Scotland 13 years ago, had no previous experience of boxing, but the internet helped her to find a club on her doorstep."Because of the size I was after I'd had my little one, I started Googling how to lose weight," she said."And boxing came up, as one of the hardest, but quickest ways to lose weight. So I tried it and I saw the weight falling off."I just got addicted to it, but it helps that you see the improvement in your body. I started looking in the mirror again and seeing the change helps you keep going."Now she says she feels "absolutely amazing"."I can't believe what I've done and how far I've come," she added."I never thought I'd see a way out of where I was, but I have." Natasha has recently launched her own cleaning business - the boxing club is one of her clients - and she is supported by partner John and family, although she banned them from watching her first fight."They're a great support but the boxing is something I've done on my own; it's my thing," she said."My mum's not keen to watch it anyway, and, being honest, I was also a little embarrassed that I might not box very well."I had Tom, my coach there, and there were others from the club supporting me, and that's what it was about." She said their backing had been amazing and they had had "huge smiles" on their faces since her fight."I never thought I'd be in a boxing ring, but I absolutely loved it," she added."I don't know if boxing is for everyone, but I'd recommend women give it a try."Whether you need a lift, something to focus on or not - you don't have to physically box people."She added: "I never realised what boxing training could do, but I know now, and it's given me my life back."I would definitely recommend it to anyone." 'Role model' Tom Jolly, who runs the Bravehearts club, said it was delighted with what she had achieved."We are an open and welcoming club at Bravehearts and it's been great to see more girls and women getting involved in training, and boxing itself," he said."Natasha is a great role model for them."Head coach Wullie Martin said the club was very proud of how she had developed."Natasha made history for our wee club by becoming the first female Braveheart boxer to compete in a sanctioned bout up in Glasgow," he said."I told Natasha that win, lose or draw didn't really matter because as you step in through the ropes of a boxing ring the most important thing is not physical strength, but mental strength."You have to believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed, and Natasha has shown she has that mindset. The wins will come." If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can visit the BBC Action Line.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
DC rally protests cuts to US veterans programs: ‘Promises made to us have come under attack'
A flurry of red, white and blue American flags fluttered across the National Mall on Friday as more than 5,000 military veterans and their allies descended on Washington to protest against the planned elimination of 80,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the cancellation of hundreds of contracts for veterans services with community organizations. 'I hope that in the future veterans will be able to get their benefits,' said David Magnus, a navy veteran who decided to travel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after his doctor told him she was quitting during a recent mental health appointment. Before Donald Trump returned to office in January, 'the VA was good', he said, but since then medical staff have faced harassment that puts the entire system at risk. 'It used to be, you'd call and get an answer,' he said. 'Now, so much is going on that they don't know where to put you.' Organizers said that in addition to the march in Washington, there were more than 200 corresponding actions across the country, from watch parties to vigils held at VA clinics. Many veterans told the Guardian they came to the nation's capital on their own after hearing about the rally online. The VA secretary, Doug Collins, has said the efforts are designed to trim bureaucratic bloat and will have no impact on veterans' healthcare or benefits. Reporting by the Guardian last month found the agency, which provides healthcare to more than 9 million veterans, has already been plunged into crisis. Across the nation, appointments have been cancelled, hospital units closed, the physical safety of patients put at risk. Demonstrators said the Trump administration is seeking to destroy the VA, the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, with 170 government-run hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics, and replace it with a private voucher program that will provide substandard care. 'We're a generation of service. We volunteered and stepped up to lead. Now we are seeing the promises made to us come under attack,' said Kyleanne Hunter, the chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a Marine Corps veteran who flew multiple combat missions as an AH1-W Super Cobra attack pilot. The administration's proposed budget for the VA, released on Friday, slashes spending for 'medical services' by $12bn – or nearly 20% – an amount offset by a corresponding 50% boost in funding for veterans seeking healthcare in the private sector. 'We're already being starved,' said Sharda Fornnarino, a Navy veteran and one of about three dozen nurses brought to the rally by the National Nurses United union. Fornnarino, who works at the VA in Denver, Colorado, said that while politicians in Washington debate permanent staff reductions, essential healthcare positions are being left vacant. With fewer staff on the floor, veterans on hospice 'are being left to die in their own piss and shit', said Teshara Felder, a Navy veteran and nurse at the agency's hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, said. A blue-ribbon commission established by the agency last year found veterans received significantly better care at lower cost from the public system. Private providers operated with little oversight, they wrote, and 'are not required to demonstrate competency in diagnosing and treating the complex care needs of veterans nor in understanding military culture, which is often critical to providing quality care for veterans'. The VA says the budget submission 'prioritizes care for our most vulnerable veterans, including those experiencing homelessness or at risk of suicide' and 'eliminates nonessential programming and bureaucratic overhead that does not directly serve the veteran'. The march was held on the 81st anniversary of D-day, when Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, a decisive turn in the war against Nazi Germany during the second world war. Organizers said their inspiration goes back even further – to the 'Bonus Army' march on Washington in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression, when thousands of first world war veterans gathered on the National Mall to demand promised benefits, only to have the US military deployed against them. Christopher Purdy, an Afghanistan war veteran and organizer of today's march, said the Bonus Army rally helped set the stage for the New Deal social programs and eventually the GI Bill, which provided higher education, healthcare and home ownership to veterans returning from the second world war. Other speakers criticized Trump's decision to impose a travel ban on visitors from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, where many of the demonstrators served alongside translators who risked their lives for the US. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump ordered a pause on the US refugee admissions program, putting translators' safety in doubt. 'We all left behind people who are now marked,' said Nadim Yousify, who immigrated to the United States in 2015 after working as a US government translator in Afghanistan and later joined the Marine Corps.
