An Irish military policewoman is recovering in hospital in Sarajevo this morning after sustaining injuries when a cache of grenades exploded at the base where she was on duty, writes Paul Cullen. A Bosnian civilian was killed in the explosion.
Cpl Lorraine Coss (23), from Mountmellick, Co Laois, is the first Irishwoman to be injured while on peacekeeping duties overseas in the history of the Army. She received shrapnel wounds to the legs and is said to be stable in the German military hospital in Sarajevo.
The incident occurred at about 5.45 p.m. Irish time at the headquarters of Sfor (Stability Force), the NATO-led peacekeeping force in the city.
A civilian approached the base carrying a box of grenades he intended to hand in. He was ordered to dispose of the box in an ordnance pit outside the compound, but the grenades exploded as he started to do this.
A Norwegian soldier was also wounded in the incident.
Cpl Coss, who is single, has been in the Army for four years. She previously served overseas in the Lebanon, in 1996-97.
About 50 Irish soldiers are serving with Sfor, which replaced the failed UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in 1995.