Poland intends to increase its military contingent in Iraq by roughly 10 percent, or 250 troops, from its current figure of about 2,500 troops, Polish Radio reported on 3 January, quoting Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski. The chief of the Polish Army General Staff, General Czeslaw Piatas, said the decision was made in the light of the new situation in Iraq, in which bomb attacks have replaced machine-gun shelling. Polish soldiers will reportedly be equipped with a greater range of weapons, they will have more armoured transporters, and their all-terrain vehicles will also be armoured, RFE/RL informs.
