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Agence France Presse -- English
January 9, 2005 Sunday 3:35 PM GMT
Seven Ukrainian troops, Kazakh dead in Iraqi accident: ministry
KIEV Jan 9
Seven Ukrainian soldiers and one Kazakh died in Iraq Sunday after a
bomb they were about to defuse went off accidentally, Ukraine's
defense ministry said.
Another seven Ukrainian and four Kazakh troops were injured as a
result of the accident, which occurred at 12:05 pm in Iraq's central
Wasit region, where Ukrainian and Kazakh troops serve under Polish
control, it said in a statement.
It said the explosion occurred after a team of Kazakh sappers and
their Ukrainian backup had brought back for defusion some 35 aerial
bombs that Iraqi police had found stashed near the central military
base of As Suwayrah.
"After they were loaded off, there occurred an explosion of a large
magnitude, the reasons for which are still being investigated," the
statement said.
"As a result of the blast, seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and
seven received injuries of varying degrees. One Kazakh soldier was
killed and four Kazakh troops were injured," it said.
The injured were given first aid in the Ukrainian camp and then
rushed to a military hospital in Baghdad by helicopter, the statement
said.
"The defense ministry expresses its deepest condolences to the
relatives and close ones of the soldiers killed," it said.
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has also sent condolences to the
families of those killed, according to a statement by the presidency.
In Warsaw a Polish military official said the soldiers had died as
they were trying to deactivate a bomb.
"An aerial bomb found during mine-clearing operations in the area
exploded accidentally when the soldiers were about to make it safe,"
Polish military spokesman Colonel Zdzieslaw Gnatowski told AFP.
On the orders of the Polish commander of the multinational division
of which the Ukrainians and Kazakhs are members, General Andrzej
Ekiert, the mine-clearing operation was halted to investigate the
exact causes of the incident, Colonel Gnatowski said.
Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Polish chief of staff
General Czeslaw Piatas expressed their sympathy to the families of
the victims as well as to the governments in Kiev and Almaty, an
official statement released in Warsaw said.
More than 1,600 Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 2003
in Iraq's Wasit region where US-led coalition forces are under Polish
command.
Prior to Sunday's deaths, Ukraine has lost nine of its troops, with
another 20 injured.
In the heat of Ukraine's election saga in December, the Kiev
parliament approved a resolution that demanded outgoing President
Leonid Kuchma withdraw Ukrainian soldiers from Iraq.
Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko, who won a rerun presidential
election to succeed Kuchma, has also come out in favor of a quick
withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.
After the January 30 elections in Iraq, the 5,500-strong Polish force
will include troops from 15 countries.
The countries contributing are Armenia, Bulgaria, Denmark,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway,
Romania, Salvador, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United States.
Poland has lost 13 soldiers and four civilians since the beginning of
the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
January 9, 2005 Sunday 3:35 PM GMT
Seven Ukrainian troops, Kazakh dead in Iraqi accident: ministry
KIEV Jan 9
Seven Ukrainian soldiers and one Kazakh died in Iraq Sunday after a
bomb they were about to defuse went off accidentally, Ukraine's
defense ministry said.
Another seven Ukrainian and four Kazakh troops were injured as a
result of the accident, which occurred at 12:05 pm in Iraq's central
Wasit region, where Ukrainian and Kazakh troops serve under Polish
control, it said in a statement.
It said the explosion occurred after a team of Kazakh sappers and
their Ukrainian backup had brought back for defusion some 35 aerial
bombs that Iraqi police had found stashed near the central military
base of As Suwayrah.
"After they were loaded off, there occurred an explosion of a large
magnitude, the reasons for which are still being investigated," the
statement said.
"As a result of the blast, seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and
seven received injuries of varying degrees. One Kazakh soldier was
killed and four Kazakh troops were injured," it said.
The injured were given first aid in the Ukrainian camp and then
rushed to a military hospital in Baghdad by helicopter, the statement
said.
"The defense ministry expresses its deepest condolences to the
relatives and close ones of the soldiers killed," it said.
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has also sent condolences to the
families of those killed, according to a statement by the presidency.
In Warsaw a Polish military official said the soldiers had died as
they were trying to deactivate a bomb.
"An aerial bomb found during mine-clearing operations in the area
exploded accidentally when the soldiers were about to make it safe,"
Polish military spokesman Colonel Zdzieslaw Gnatowski told AFP.
On the orders of the Polish commander of the multinational division
of which the Ukrainians and Kazakhs are members, General Andrzej
Ekiert, the mine-clearing operation was halted to investigate the
exact causes of the incident, Colonel Gnatowski said.
Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Polish chief of staff
General Czeslaw Piatas expressed their sympathy to the families of
the victims as well as to the governments in Kiev and Almaty, an
official statement released in Warsaw said.
More than 1,600 Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 2003
in Iraq's Wasit region where US-led coalition forces are under Polish
command.
Prior to Sunday's deaths, Ukraine has lost nine of its troops, with
another 20 injured.
In the heat of Ukraine's election saga in December, the Kiev
parliament approved a resolution that demanded outgoing President
Leonid Kuchma withdraw Ukrainian soldiers from Iraq.
Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko, who won a rerun presidential
election to succeed Kuchma, has also come out in favor of a quick
withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.
After the January 30 elections in Iraq, the 5,500-strong Polish force
will include troops from 15 countries.
The countries contributing are Armenia, Bulgaria, Denmark,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway,
Romania, Salvador, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United States.
Poland has lost 13 soldiers and four civilians since the beginning of
the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress