BUCHAREST, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen killed a Romanian soldier in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the Balkan country's first death since Romania sent troops to help the U.S-led coalition in 2001, the Defence Ministry said. Romania, expected to join NATO in 2004, has contributed troops both to an international peacekeeping force in Kabul and to the U.S.-led force hunting for remnants of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. The ministry said the 33-year-old sergeant was killed when his convoy of armoured vehicles came under attack. Another soldier was injured during the shooting incident. "The sergeant was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on our convoy of armoured vehicles from the 151 Infantry Battalion 'Razboieni," the ministry said in a statement. The convoy was returning from a mission in southern Afghanistan, when the incident occurred at 1205 GMT, near the town of Spin Boldak. Romania, grateful for Washington support of its NATO bid, now has 50 soldiers in the 5,000-strong International security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO control and more than 400 in the U.S.-led force. Remnants of the hardline Islamic regime toppled from power nearly two years ago have been blamed for a string of attacks, particularly in the south of the country, since early August.
