An 8-year-old boy was shot Tuesday by a soldier when walking to school, during a confrontation between the national army and guerrilla group the FARC in a rural area in the south-west Colombian Huila department.
According to the army, the incident occured when a soldier slipped and accidentally fired the weapon he was carrying.
The minor’s father, who asked to remain anonymous, does not believe this version of events and has asked authorities to clarify the situation.
“They said that he had fallen and had fired the weapon, but it wasn’t like that because he didn’t fall. The boy said that he didn’t fall,” the boy’s father said, adding there needs to be an investigation because the incident “cannot be left like this.”
The 8-year-old was taken to a local hospital, where the director of emergency services said the minor had been admitted “with a wound from a firearm in his right foot.”
The minor received surgery on his foot and is reported to be in a stable condition.
