THREE Slovak soldiers were killed in Iraq by an explosion on June 8, becoming the first casualties sustained by the Slovak contingent of the multinational division.
"[Before this] we had not had any wounded, nothing. This was the first," Anton Filo, the spokesman of the 105-strong unit, told the news wire TASR.
He was not able to confirm the exact cause of death, and added that, "there are different versions."
Three Slovak army engineers - Peter Dinga, Vladimir Simonides, and Miroslav Frkan - were among six soldiers killed when a Polish vehicle containing explosives for de-mining operations blew up accidentally, Slovakia's Defence Minister Juraj Liška confirmed earlier in the day.
The incident happened at 9:00, local time, near the town of al-Suwariya, about 150 kilometres from the Slovak unit's base at Hilla, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.
The three other members of the Polish-led multinational division to be killed included one soldier from Latvia and two from Poland.
A commission led by the deputy commander of the Polish forces in Iraq and including a military prosecutor, doctors, and the Slovak unit's commander examined the site.
Most of Slovakia’s soldiers in Iraq are engineers performing mine-clearing activities.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
