Kandahar Airport under Attack Again, 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 has been attacked with missiles again on December 27, according to information from the Bulgarian Defense Ministry.

The missile attack occurred Monday at 5:40 pm local time (3:40 pm GMT+2), the ministry has announced.

There is no information for injured Bulgarian soldiers or material damages.

The Kandahar Airport, which is guarded by Bulgarians, was fired with missiles twice around Christmas. According to information from the ministry, the airport was subjected to two missile attacks – on December 25 at 4:30 pm (GMT+2) and on December 26, at 6:25 pm (GMT+2).

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.

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