The 47-year-old ex-Green Beret was flown back to the US for treatment after being taken to hospitals in Burundi and South Africa . Former UFC fighter Tim Kennedy is recovering after being shot three times in the leg during an ambush in Congo.
What happened in Congo?
Former UFC fighter and ex-Green Beret Tim Kennedy, survived after being shot multiple times in Congo. He was shot three times in the leg. As per Reuters, he is in stable condition at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland . As per The New York Times , he was first rushed to Burundi and then to South Africa. He was treated at the private Milpark hospital in Johannesburg, and was later flown back to the US. The company was founded by Erik Prince, who owns Blackwater. The company was “working on an operation to protect mining revenues, combat smuggling and collect taxes for the Congolese government. The attack took place in Congo’s eastern highlands, where government forces are fighting a Rwanda-backed rebel group. One person close to Prince, who was briefed on the incident, called it a “long ordeal. The NYT added that Congolese forces did not give enough support, which made it worse. As per The Sun, the Congolese government believes the ambush may have been planned by Rwanda-backed rebel forces. As per the NYT, several people died in the ambush. One of them was Justin Conaglen, a former special forces soldier from New Zealand . He took unpaid leave from the New Zealand military in March and formally left in August. His remains were sent back to New Zealand. He fought in the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and other events.
The team was ambushed on September 17, and 20 people were injured or killed. He was cremated on October 1 after a memorial at a rugby club in Taipa. Kennedy had an MMA record of 18-6 in a 15-year career. He joined the US Army in 2004 and moved from active duty to the Texas Army National Guard in 2009, as per TMZ .
Kennedy was part of a team hired by Vectus Global to work in Congo, according to Reuters. Kennedy was with a group of mercenaries travelling with Congolese soldiers when the ambush happened, according to The New York Times.
He did several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He retired from pro fighting in 2017, hosted shows for the History and Discovery channels, and wrote a book called “Scars and Stripes.”
