Bomb kills Polish soldier in Iraq

Polish troops may not be serving in Iraq after next year

A Polish soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in the central Iraqi town of Diwaniya.

Three other soldiers were injured in the incident, one of them seriously, according to the Polish government.

The soldier's death brings to 22 the number of Polish troops killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Poland's Prime Minister-designate Donald Tusk announced this week that he will seek to remove all Polish troops from Iraq next year.

Corporal Andrzej Filipek was killed when his convoy struck an improvised explosive device (IED) while patrolling the streets of Diwaniya.

The three injured soldiers are being treated in a hospital near the scene of the blast.

The incident follows the attempted assassination in October of the Polish Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Pietrzyk.

Mr Pietrzyk survived the attack, but three people travelling with him were killed.

Troops out

Poland has been a staunch ally to the US in the Iraqi campaign.

There have been Polish troops in Iraq since the beginning of the US invasion in 2003, and around 900 Polish military personnel are still stationed there.

But the presence of Polish forces in the country has never been popular with the public in Poland.

According to a recent poll conducted by Polish research centre, the CBOS Institute, 81% of Poles are opposed to their country's military activities in Iraq.

Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party won a resounding victory in Poland's recent general election after a campaign that included a pledge to end the Polish mission in Iraq.