Havildar Suresh R at the Delhi airport. (Photo via X)
New Delhi: An Indian Army soldier, Havildar Suresh R, stationed in the Israeli-occupied Syria’s Golan Heights under a United Nations peacekeeping mission, was successfully evacuated and brought to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi, on Thursday. The 33-year-old soldier had sustained severe head injuries, including a subarachnoid haemorrhage, while serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force.
The UNDOF monitors the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.
The Army has clarified that Hav Suresh sustained the injury due to an accident and it was not due to combat action. It may be noted that the Golan Heights have been coming under attacks from Hezbollah every now and then since the Israel-Hamas war started last October.
Earlier this year, as India Sentinels had reported, a former Indian Army officer, Colonel Waivabh Anil Kale, was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza when he was travelling on his vehicle to the European Hospital in Rafah while on a UN mission.
Following the injury in late August, Havildar Suresh received initial treatment at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel, where he spent nearly a month before being transferred to a Level 1 hospital within the UNDOF zone on September 20.
His condition remained critical during this time.
The complex evacuation operation was led by a team of Indian Army medical personnel, including Lieutenant Colonel Anuj Singh, and was carried out using a C-130 Air Ambulance. The soldier received continuous critical care throughout the journey from Tel Aviv. The mission, supported by the Indian Air Force and the Ministry of External Affairs, saw the air ambulance land in Jamnagar, Gujarat, before Hav Suresh was flown to Delhi, where he arrived safely at the Army Hospital.
Army doctors attending Hav Suresh said his condition has since stabilized, with promising signs of recovery.
