WARSAW - A Polish soldier was killed and four were injured in Iraq overnight by a remote-controlled mine, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said on Thursday.
"It was an attack against a convoy of several vehicles between Hilla and Baghdad. A Polish corporal was killed and four injured," Szmajdzinski told TVN24 television.
"The four were taken to hospital in Baghdad. Their lives are not in danger," he said.
He added that two other soldiers who received light injuries were treated on the spot.
"It was a routine patrol, involving 18 Polish soldiers," he said. "It was a premeditated attack."
Poland, one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the Iraq war, has a contingent that patrols a large swathe of Iraq south of Baghdad, heading a 6,500-strong multinational force including 2,500 Polish troops.
The soldier was the seventh member of the Polish military to be killed in the conflict.
Four civilians, including a prominent Polish television presenter and his Algerian picture editor who were gunned down last May, have also been killed.
Szmajdzinski has earlier said that Warsaw was counting on a substantial withdrawal of troops from the country in early 2005.
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