(Al Jazeera Media Network) Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is battling life-threatening wounds after officials said he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt.
“Today, after the government meeting in Handlova, there was an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico,” the government said in a post on social media.
Fico, whose Smer-SD party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and a political veteran.
“He is currently being transported by helicopter to Banska Bystrica in a life-threatening condition, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava due to the necessity of an acute intervention,” the government statement said.
Fico was shot four times in the stomach outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, where the leader was meeting with supporters, according to reports on Slovakian TV station TA3.
President Zuzana Caputova confirmed that police have detained the gunman.
“Police have detained the attacker, and as soon as possible will give more information,” she said in a statement.
