Defense Ministry: Kandahar Airport Attacked, No Bulgarians Injured

At present, the Bulgarian contingents in Afghanistan, numbering 600 troops, are based in three locations – Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The Kandahar Airport was fired with missiles in the recent days, but there are no injured Bulgarian soldiers, the Bulgarian defense ministry has announced.

According to information from the ministry, the airport was subjected to two missiles – on December 25 at 4:30 pm (GMT+2) and on December 26, at 6:25 pm (GMT+2).

At least one person has been killed and 26 injured when a car bomb exploded as police were picking up their paychecks from a bank in Kandahar, the CNN reported.

At present, the Bulgarian contingents in Afghanistan, numbering 600 troops, are based in three locations – Kabul, Kandahar and Herat. Taliban rocket attacks on the Kandahar base, the outer perimeter of which is guarded by UK soldiers, are very common with up to 400 reported in 2009.

Bulgaria's center-right government, elected last July, initially said it would not be able to provide more forces in Afghanistan due to the economic crisis, but later changed its strategy under pressure from the United States and NATO.

At the end of July Defense Minister Anyu Angelov announced that about 700 Bulgarian troops will be trained to join the military operations of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and sent there in 2013 at the latest.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!