Bulgaria Deploys New 300-Strong Unit to Afghanistan

Bulgaria has deployed more than 600 troops in Afghanistan guarding the airports in Kabul and Kandahar, and a medical unit in the Herat province. Photo by BGNES

A send-off ceremony will be held in Karlovo, Central Bulgaria, on Tuesday for a 300-strong military unit which will join the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

The unit will provide security at Kandahar Airport under the commandment of Major Mitko Baltov.

Bulgaria has deployed more than 600 troops in Afghanistan guarding the airports in Kabul and Kandahar, and a medical unit in the Herat province.

At the beginning of the year and his term Bulgarian new President Rosen Plevneliev unexpectedly arrived on a surprise visit to Afghanistan on February 29.

Plevneliev's trip to Afghanistan was his second official state visit abroad after his inauguration on January 22, 2012, when he replaced two-term Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. Plevneliev's first foreign visit was to Brussels.

The Bulgarian President was received immediately by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai.

According to the Bulgarian Presidency, Plevneliev has expressed Bulgaria's desire to build a hospital in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, and the Afghan authorities have promised to provide the land.

Cooperation between Bulgaria and Afghanistan on illegal drug trafficking, and illegal immigration, as well as the work of the Bulgarian military mission in Afghanistan with the NATO-led ISAF operation have also been topics on Plevneliev and Karzai's agenda.

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