Soldiers die clearing Iraq mines

Poland is commanding a multinational force in Iraq

Six soldiers have been killed while clearing mines in Iraq, a spokesman for the Polish army has said.

Three Slovaks, two Poles and one Latvian died, and several other soldiers were hurt.

The incident took place on Tuesday morning in the city of Suwaira, around 50km (30 miles) outside Baghdad.

"They were working on destroying ammunition stocks from Saddam Hussein's army," said Polish spokesman Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski.

"They're removing munitions from depots and detonating them, and while they were unloading them from a vehicle something exploded, most likely an air-launched bomb."

Latvian officials in the capital, Riga, confirmed the death of one of their soldiers - the country's first fatality in Iraq.

"We are still investigating the incident to try to find out how it could have happened," defence ministry spokesman Ivars Grinbergs told AP news agency.

There was no word on the nationality of the wounded.

Poland, which has 2,400 troops in Iraq, is heading a force of 17 countries in a zone across central Iraq.