The Soldier Wounded in Afghanistan Arrived in Spain Yesterday

 

Arrival of the wounded soldier on Torrejón Air Base (Photo:Ángel Manrique / Army Communication Department)

 

The Paratroops Brigade commander with the soldier’s father (Photo:Ángel Manrique / Army Communication Department)

Gentleman Legionnaire Paratrooper Javier Párraga, wounded on 9th July in Afghanistan, yesterday arrived, at three o’clock in the afternoon, on the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid). There he was received by the commander of 6th Paratroops Light Infantry Brigade ‘Almogávares’, General Juan Gómez de Salazar, and his relatives.  The soldier is scheduled to be operated today at 'Gómez Ulla' Central Defence Hospital to remove the bullet that is still lodged in his body, since doctors have preferred to wait for the patient’s recovery from the long journey before proceeding to operate.
 

Private Párraga, 20 and a native of Mula (Murcia),was wounded by gun fire during an attack on a patrol carrying out reconnaissance to the northeast  of Muqur, in Badghis province (Afghanistan).

The soldier, belonging to 3rd Paratroops Battalion ‘Ortiz de Zárate’, was hit in his left gluteus.  The Spanish serviceman was immediately evacuated by helicopter to the ROLE 2 hospital in Murghab, where he was operated in order to proceed to the cleaning of the affected area.
 

The Spanish soldier was part of a joint reconnaissance patrol made up of Afghan National Army members and Spanish servicepersons from the paratroops and Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams.  They were all undertaking an action four kilometres to the northeast of Muqur to guarantee freedom of movement in the Opal route, when they were attacked by armed men. The Spanish and Afghan troops had no choice but to fire back and ask for support from a Spanish Army Quick Response Force platoon and the NATO air command.  The effective response by the Afghan and allied troops to the attack ended in various casualties among the insurgents.