BELMOPAN, Belize, Police say they are investigating a report in which a member of the Belize Defense Force (BDF) was shot and hospitalized following an incident at the Valentin Conservation Post along the Belize-Guatemala border.
Police Commissioner Chester Williams said that the incident occurred last Saturday and that the soldier was shot in the buttocks. He said the BDF and police investigators are carrying out the probe.
“At this time, investigators are trying to ascertain who fired the shot and from which direction it was fired. Based on what the BDF soldier reported, the shot might have been fired from Guatemala. We are still trying to ascertain if that is so.
“I know the BDF who was injured was still admitted to the Western Regional Hospital, and from what I was briefed, the slug is still lodged in him,” Williams said, adding, “the slug will be very key in determining the type of weapon that was used as well as the trajectory and distance.
“So as soon as the doctor has conducted the surgery, we are going to obtain the slug from the doctor, and it will be sent to the National Forensic Service for ballistic testing. That will tell us if, indeed, in fact, the slug was fired from one of the BDF weapons or by a weapon that does not belong to the BDF. So we are looking at that at this time to ascertain what happened,” the top cop told reporters.
Media reports here said that the Belizean and Guatemalan authorities have since launched a joint investigation in an effort to determine who fired the shot.
The two countries are involved in a territorial dispute, with the matter now before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).In 1839, after the United Provinces of Central America was dissolved, Guatemala claimed sovereignty over Belize as an “inheritance” from Spain, a claim rejected by the British because neither Spain nor any Central American entity had ever occupied Belizean territory.
Williams said that the police have checked with the BDF, and “they have confirmed that every officer who was at that outpost did, in fact, account for all their rounds.”
He said while the incident occurred in the Chiquibul area, it is not “too far from the Guatemalan border.
“We have been there once. It is a bit of distance for a shotgun or a small weapon. But, perhaps maybe a long-range weapon like an AR-15 or 16 and SLR may be able to travel further, and if one is fired from the Guatemalan side of the border to that area, perhaps it might hit a target.
“But again, if it is, we are not saying the shooter could have been in Guatemala; the shooter could have been in Belize as well, just a bit closer to the Adjacency Zone to be able to have a closer reach to its target. So, we are looking at all that,” Williams said.
In a statement, the BDF said it “remains committed to maintaining vigilance during patrols on our border area in order to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Belize.”
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