Coalition soldier killed in Iraq

A coalition soldier trying to defuse a roadside bomb was shot and killed by insurgents in Iraq, the US military said today.

The soldier, who was not a member of the US Army, was shot late on Saturday night in northwest Baghdad while on patrol with other coalition troops.

He was the first coalition soldier killed by hostile fire in Iraq since February 19 when a pair of Americans were killed in a roadside bombing near Khaldiyah, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital.

The name of the soldier and his nationality was withheld pending notification of his family.

So far during the conflict the British military has reported 58 deaths, Italy 17, Spain eight, Bulgaria five, Thailand two, and Denmark, Ukraine and Poland have reported one each.

As of today, 547 US service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defence.

Of those, 378 died as a result of hostile action and 169 died of non-hostile causes, the department said.