Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico Shot, In Life-Threatening Condition

• Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt in the town of Handlova
• Fico is in a life-threatening condition, having undergone surgery for abdominal wounds, with his status described as extraordinarily serious
• A suspect believed to have clear political motivations was detained at the scene of the attack

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times on Wednesday, May 15.

He was left in a life-threatening condition, according to his Facebook page and the Slovak government.

Assassination attempt on PM Fico

The shooting took place in the town of Handlova, about 90 miles northeast of the capital, Bratislava, as Fico emerged from a government meeting, shocking the small country and reverberating across Europe.

Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba later told BBC News that Fico's surgery went "well" and added, "I guess that in the end he will survive."

According to CBS News, Defense Minister Robert Kalina said outside the hospital where Fico was being treated for his wounds that the 59-year-old pro-Russian leader was still being treated several hours after being shot in the abdomen.

Kalina had said an operation on Fico was not yet complete and described his condition as extraordinarily serious.

At least four shots were fired outside a cultural centre in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometres (85 miles) northeast of the capital, where Fico was meeting with supporters, the government said.

A suspect was in custody after being detained at the scene, and an initial investigation found "a clear political motivation" behind the assassination attempt, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said as he briefed reporters alongside the defence minister.

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár also called it an assassination attempt in a social media post.

Fico was transported first by car and then by helicopter to a regional hospital, as it was deemed too urgent to move him on the ground.

The Slovak TASR news agency said deputy speaker of parliament Lubos Blaha confirmed the incident during a session of parliament and adjourned the legislature until further notice.

Fico has served in his nation's top job for about 10 years—longer than any predecessor, according to the BBC—over the course of three terms.

Kericho man killed months after escaping murder attempt

In a separate incident, a 33-year-old native of Kapkures village in Ainamoi sub-county was killed by unknown people on the night of Thursday, April 4.

Cosmas Langat was on his way home in the company of a friend when he met his killers.

The attackers who emerged in the darkness caught and dragged him to an unknown place, where they descended on him.

The man's painful death came months after he survived another attempt on his life.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke