Fico is currently “fighting for his life” after being gravely injured in the assassination attempt in the small town of Handlova
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Slovakia government has provided an update on the health of its Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who was shot at close range on Wednesday, saying he had a successful surgery.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the Prime Minister was in a life-threatening condition after he was shot multiple times by an assailant in an assassination attempt.
Footage from the scene showed the injured prime minister being bundled into a vehicle by several of his staff, with the car speeding away from the scene as soon as he was inside.
Early Thursday, the hospital treating him said the Slovakian leader’s condition was “stable but still very serious.”
However, speaking with the BBC on the latest development, Fico’s Deputy, Tomas Taraba, said the government and people of Slovakia are hopeful his boss will survive the attack.
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He said the surgery had gone “well” and “I guess that in the end, he will survive”.
Prior to this, the populist Prime Minister, was said to have been “fighting for his life” after being gravely injured in the assassination attempt in the small town of Handlova.
A suspect was detained at the scene of the shooting.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estoka later described the attack as a politically motivated assassination attempt.
The gunman fired five shots at close range, and Mr Fico was hit in the stomach and the arm.
Following the shooting, he was rushed to hospital and spent several hours in surgery “fighting for his life”, according to Defence Minister Robert Kalinak.