BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) -- A suspected roadside bomb killed a Hungarian soldier in Iraq and wounded a civilian driver on Thursday, Hungary's first military fatality since it joined the U.S.-led coalition.
Hungarian Defence Minister Ferenc Juhasz said the casualties were probably caused by a bomb which hit a military convoy some 70 km (45 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
"The explosion ripped through an amoured personnel carrier...and fatally injured the lungs of a 27-year-old non-commissioned officer," Juhasz told a press conference.
The civilian driver was hit by shards of flying glass, Juhasz said.
He said Hungary's 300-strong transport battalion would remain in Iraq.
"The Hungarian military will continue its duty in Iraq unless parliament decides otherwise," said Juhasz.
Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy and his government strongly supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and sent troops after the war to help with security and reconstruction. But the Hungarian people are now mostly against their country's involvement in Iraq.
Before last year's invasion which toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the United States used Hungary as a base to train Iraqi exiles to work with U.S.-led forces.
A Hungarian civilian was shot dead by U.S. troops in Iraq in November after he failed to slow at a military checkpoint.