SOFIA, March 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The US military has admitted responsibility for the death of a Bulgarian machinegunner last week in Iraq, but insisted it was "unintentional" and partly resulted from nearby insurgent attacks, Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said Saturday.

    The Multinational Forces Command has admitted that the US forces "did not put enough effort into identifying the objects on Tampa road and directly opened fire without the required warning shots," the ministry said.

    A Bulgarian soldier, Private Gardi Gardev, was killed on March 4 by gunfire from a US communication post while patrolling on a road some 160 km south of Baghdad.

    "The gunfire against our patrol was preceded by a terrorist attack on an American logistics convoy nine km south of communication post number 5 (which opened fire on the Bulgarian patrol) and a second attack against a rapid deployment unit of post number 6, three to five km south of the same post," the ministry said quoting an investigation report from the Multinational Forces Command.

    The report said "the Bulgarian patrol had acted in complete compliance with the standard operational procedures and the rules for application of force and did not in any way threaten the security of the US communication unit."

    But it also insisted that the shooting was "unintentional" and was provoked by the two insurgent attacks.

    Gardev's death has aroused strong resentment among the Bulgarians, with some Bulgarian parties demanding the parliament and government reconsider the Balkan country's military presence in Iraq.

    The Bulgarian soldier became the eighth fatal casualty while serving in Iraq, where the NATO member has about 450 peacekeepers stationed in Diwaniya as part of a multinational force under Polish command. Enditem