Six soldiers from eastern Europe have been killed while disposing of ammunition from an Iraqi depot in the Polish-run occupation zone.
A Polish military spokesman said three Slovaks, two Poles and one Latvian were killed in the weapons-disposal operation near the town of al-Suvariya, south of Baghdad.
Poliand's Prime Minister, Mr Marek Belka, expressed condolences to the families of the dead but said the accident would not affect Poland's resolve to keep its troops in Iraq as long as needed.
He said Polish forces had immediately suspended all ammunition-disposal operations and would review their procedures following the explosion.
"The soldiers were working on destroying ammunition stocks from Saddam Hussein's army," said a spokesman for Poland's General Staff. "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."
A Polish-led multinational force, which includes troops from 17 countries - mostly from eastern Europe and Asia - runs the south-central occupation zone around the holy city of Kerbala, one of four such zones.
Poland has one of the largest contingents in the US-led coalition, with 2,400 troops.