A bus rammed a checkpoint in southern Iraq on Sunday, wounding several people, including one Polish soldier as well as Iraqi troops and police, army officials said.
It was unclear why the vehicle failed to obey orders to stop, but the US-led coalition could not say whether it had been an attempted suicide attack.
Speaking from Warsaw, Polish army spokesman Zdzislaw Gnatowski said one Polish soldier was hurt along with "several Iraqis" when the bus failed to stop at a checkpoint near Karbala, 110 kilometres south of Baghdad.
Polish troops opened fire on the bus as it continued driving towards the checkpoint, he said.
But, Gnatowski added, "It was not an attack."
Earlier, a spokesman for the multi-national coalition force based in the area said the bus failed to stop after being ordered to do so.
"The bus hit the checkpoint and as a result it wounded a number of coalition soldiers, injured ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defence Corps) soldiers and civilians," he said. Iraqi police were also hurt in the incident that took place at 6:30pm, a statement from the multi-national division said.
"Iraqi security forces are currently investigating the incident," said the official, adding that it was not yet possible to determine whether it had been a suicide attack.
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