Two soldiers serving with NATO forces in Macedonia were killed today when an explosive device went off unexpectedly, also injuring three civilians.
Details surrounding the incident were unclear.
The soldiers' nationality was not revealed but private television station A1 earlier reported that they were Polish.
A spokesman for troops serving with the military alliance in Macedonia confirmed that the deaths occurred "as a result of heavy injuries from the explosion".
He had earlier said that the troops were in the vicinity of an explosive device that somebody was trying to dispose of in the northern region of Kumanovo.
NATO forces have been deployed in the former Yugoslav republic since September 2001 after a Western-brokered peace deal ended fighting between Macedonian government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels.
A peacekeeping force from the European Union is due to start a tour of duty on the ground in Macedonia this month, the EU presidency has said, spearheading the bloc's first ever such role.
AFP