Three Belgian soldiers have been airlifted to safety from a military excercise on a remote hill on a Scottish island.
The Belgian Army soldiers needed medical assistance after gruelling military operations in a rugged, remote hill in the Western Isles on Sunday morning.
They were part of NATO manoeuvres involving around 100 Belgian troops as well as British servicemen.
One man could not walk due to a dislocated ankle and another two were suffering from exhaustion, said a Stornoway Coastguard spokesperson.
They needed medical assistance during an exercise, believed to have been taking place overnight, through high heather and wet bog on the wild moorland and hills at Uisinish, on the east side of South Uist.
Rough terrain meant army vehicles could not get to the area which is inaccessible by road. There is also a lack of walking tracks to the isolated location.
Coastguards despatched the Stornoway rescue helicopter to the scene after the alarm was raised at 9.30am on Sunday.
They were airlifted to Stornoway airport where the three casualties were transferred to ambulance and driven to the accident and emergency department at the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway.
The military exercises got underway on Thursday and will run until Wednesday.
Troops are involved with live-firing weapons at the South Uist missile range while a number of independent land exercises are planned over North Uist and South Uist.
