Five Belgian soldiers were injured during a trip to a bar in the Portuguese city of Beja. According to local media, one of them was attacked with a sharp object, but according to Defense they are all in good health.
Bron: Lidador Noticias, CNN Portugal, ODigitalVandaag at 20:35
According to Portuguese media, an incident involving Belgian soldiers took place in Beja, a city about 170 kilometers from the capital Lisbon. The local news website Lidador Noticias talks about an incident between members of the Belgian army and a group of Portuguese youth. A soldier was reportedly injured after being attacked with a sharp object. According to the website, he would be transferred to Beja hospital where he would undergo abdominal surgery. Four others were injured but have since been released from hospital.
At Defense they confirm the incident — a fight — in which five soldiers were injured, but they say they are all in good health. “A Belgian detachment is currently in Portugal as part of an exercise. During a trip to a bar in Beja, a fight broke out. Five soldiers were injured, but all are now in good health. The Belgian military police and the Portuguese police have opened an investigation,” Defense said.
It is not yet clear what caused the incident. According to Lidador Noticias, the soldiers are part of the air force. The incident is also said to have taken place in Rua 1.º de Maio, a stone’s throw from their hotel, around five in the morning.
Brawl
It is not the first time that Belgian soldiers have been discredited abroad. A similar incident took place in Norway in mid-February. Then four Belgian soldiers were arrested after a fight with local residents in a café in Åndalsnes. The soldiers were part of the 2nd Battalion Commando from Flawinne (Namur) and took part in the ‘Exercise Arctic Training’, organized by the Special Operations Regiment.
Four people were slightly injured in the brawl and one person was admitted to hospital.
Initially, the soldiers were placed in isolation and the investigation was conducted in both Belgium and Norway. That investigation has now ended: according to the French-language newspaper L’Avenir, the four soldiers will have to appear before the Norwegian court later this year. According to the competent Minister of Defense Ludivine Dedonder (PS), the costs that this will entail will not be reimbursed by the government but by the military union ACMP-CGPM.
