SOFIA, Oct. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- One Bulgarian soldier died and three others were wounded Sunday in Iraq when a car bomb exploded near their military convoy in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said.

    Bulgarian government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev confirmed the soldier's death and said three others had been wounded in the attack, which occurred as the convoy was entering Karbala at a checkpoint, south of the city Sunday afternoon.

    Sergeant Vladimir Pashov died while being transported from a hospital in Karbala to Baghdad. The three wounded troops were taken to hospital and their lives were not in danger, the Bulgarian news agency reported.

    The blast brings to seven the number of Bulgarian troops killed since their 480-strong contingent battalion was stationed in Karbarla last year.

    The Bulgarian contingent plans to move by December to the somewhat less dangerous area of Najaf further south.

    Bulgaria is a new member of NATO whose government strongly backs the US-led military operations in Iraq although opinion polls show around 70 percent of Bulgarians oppose the war. Enditem