Romanian officer injured while serving in Iraq

May 3, 2005

A Romanian student officer on mission in Iraq, Major Robertino Ciobanu, was wounded on Sunday by a bullet fired unintentionally by a colleague from the multinational force in the country. The injury took place in front of the Presidential Palace of Baghdad.

The officer's colleague accidentally fired on him while unloading weapons, a standard procedure for military personnel when they are returning from patrol missions. Ciobanu was wounded in the leg, but after being treated at hospital, he was declared out of danger.

Major Ciobanu is currently involved in training new Iraqi security personnel. Romania has one of the largest contingents in Iraq, with 830 soldiers. At the end of March, three Romanian journalists were kidnapped in Iraq, with the kidnappers later demanding that Romania pull its troops out of the country or else the journalists would be killed.

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