Poland's ambassador to Iraq escapes attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - Poland's ambassador to Iraq has escaped without injury after a convoy of vehicles he was in was attacked near Kirkuk, northern Iraq, was attacked by a road-side explosive device, thenews.pl reported.

The attack on Ambassador General Lech Stefaniak's convoy occurred on Saturday, Feb 9, according to the Polish Foreign Ministry.

“We do not know whether this was an attempt to assassinate the ambassador, or an attempt to kill someone else who was passing that way,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Bosacki told the TVN 24 news station.

After the attack, in which two vehicles were damaged, General Stefaniak continued on his way to Baghdad where the Polish Embassy is situated.

Around 2,500 Polish troops withdrew from Iraq in 2008 after taking part in the multinational occupation of the country following the invasion by mainly U.S. and UK troops in 2003.

Violence has been a feature of many areas of Iraq since the withdrawal of foreign troops, however. Last Sunday, a suicide car bomber attacked a provincial police headquarters in Kirkuk, killing at 36 people and wounding 105.

The attack was the third in as many weeks, with Iraqi authorities blaming 'terrorists' who are against the joint-government of the region by Iraqis and Kurds in what is a semi-autonomous area.