> Polish soldier killed, six hurt in Iraq car bomb attack
> Sat Aug 21, 9:08 AM ET
>
> WARSAW (AFP) - A Polish soldier was killed and six others wounded in a car
> bomb attack in southern Iraq (news - web sites), the Polish military said, the
> third attack against its soldiers in four days.
>
> One Iraqi civilian and five others were wounded in an ensuing shoot-out with
> the soldiers, medical and police sources said in Hilla -- though the Polish
> military said its troops had shot and killed several attackers.
>
> The parked car was detonated by remote control as a 19-truck convoy under the
> protection of Polish troops was driving by, said Colonel Artur Domanski, the
> spokesman for the multinational force under Polish command.
>
> The massive explosion, which occurred close to midday (0800 GMT), was heard
> several kilometres (miles) away.
>
> The wounded were evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Karbala and Baghdad,
> and towards the base at Hilla, he said.
>
> Five of the wounded were in stable condition but without life-threatening
> injuries, while a sixth person was slightly wounded, defense ministry
> spokesman Piotr Petrak told AFP.
>
> Two Polish soldiers were killed and five wounded in Iraq on Thursday in a car
> crash as they sought to escape an ambush. A day earlier the Polish base in
> Babylon came under mortar attack, wounding seven people, among them two Poles.
>
> Petrak said that Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski would travel as
> soon as possible to Iraq to see the situation for himself.
>
> The latest attack takes to 14 the number of Poles killed in Iraq since the
> start of the US-led war -- 10 were soldiers and four were civilians.
>
> US ally Poland heads a multinational force of 6,500 administering a swathe of
> Iraq south of Baghdad. Poland hopes to reduce the number of troops it has in
> the country from 2,500 to 1,500 soldiers in early 2005.
>
> Earlier this month, Polish forces handed over control to US troops of two of
> the five provinces they administered in Iraq, including the province of Najaf,
> which has been the scene of heavy fighting.
>
> Polish public opinion remains overwhelmingly opposed to Poland's participation
> in the US-led multinational force in Iraq.
>
> Copyright 짤 2004 Agence France Presse.
>
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