At least eight cases of cancer have emerged in recent months among Spanish soldiers and volunteers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo, Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Saturday.
The cases follow the brewing row over Balkan war syndrome -- an alleged increase in the incidence of cancer among forces who served in the region -- that some are blaming on the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions.
One of the newly reported Spanish cancer sufferers has already died. The soldier served in a logistical corps in Macedonia and made frequent sorties into Kosovo about a year after US NATO troops used DU weapons in air raids on the province.
Of the seven other cases, six are soldiers and one an aid worker, according to El Mundo.
One of the sources cited by the paper is the Spanish Soldiers' Defense Bureau, which campaigns for improved conditions for the military.
The organization confirmed on Friday that it was looking into 20 suspected cases of either cancer, or serious skin and intestinal problems reported among Kosovo and Bosnia conflict veterans.
The Spanish defense ministry has repeatedly denied that its soldiers were contaminated by DU ordenance used, for its armour-piercing capability, in Bosnia between 1994 and 1995 and NATO during its bombing campaign which ended the Kosovo war in June 1999.
"The cases that have been detected have no connection with our soldiers being in the region," Admiral Antonio Moreno Barbera, Spanish Defense chief of staff, told Spanish daily El Pais on Saturday.
Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo has asked to appear before the Spanish parliament to explain his side of the debate.
Military authorities at the end of December ordered that all of the 32,000 Spanish troops who, at one time or another, served in the Balkan region should undergo tests for radiation contamination.
The first 5,000 such cases have all proved negative.
Former Balkans peacekeepers from several European countries have contracted cancers, including the bone marrow cancer leukaemia. Their families and veterans' groups blame the diseases on DU munitions.
The material gives off relatively low levels of radiation, but it can be dangerous if ingested, inhaled or if it enters the body through cuts or wounds.
Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal all called on NATO this week to provide additional information on the DU projectiles and their potential health impact.
Six Italian soldiers, four Belgians, two Dutch, a Portuguese and a Czech have died from leukaemia since returning from the region. Four French soldiers have also contracted the disease.
Germany says tests carried out on its veterans over the last 12 months have not revealed any radiation-linked illnesses -- MADRID (AFP)
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