Bulgaria has requested that its entire military contingent in Afghanistan is based in the city of Kandahar, instead of being dispersed in three different locations - Kabul, Kandahar and Herat - as is the case now.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Mladenov made the proposal to International Security Assistance Force commanding officer Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Dnevnik daily said on January 21 2010.

Bulgaria has deployed a 600-strong mechanised infantry battalion in Afghanistan, its main tasks being the security of the airport in the southern Afghan town of Kandahar and military installations in capital Kabul. Kandahar is a Taliban stronghold and terrorist attacks in the region are commonplace.

The Bulgarian argument is that deploying all Bulgarian troops on one location would make them more effective and would cut logistic costs, which would in turn facilitate sending more Bulgarian troops to Afghanistan..

Mladenov is poised to present his case at a conference in London on January 28, which is to be hosted jointly by UK prime minister Gordon Brown and Afghanistan president Karzai. 

The meeting will aim to provide the international community with the opportunity to discuss the future of the beleaguered country for the next 12-16 months, with the international goal remaining a stable and secure Afghanistan.

US president Barack Obama called for the international coalition to show its support in the war effort and himself pledged to send an additional 30 000 troops on the ground but requested that Nato allies provide at least 10 000 more, to which Italy on December 3 2009 agreed to commit a further detachment of 1000 men. The UK has promised to increase its deployments by a further 500, exceeding the number of British troops in Afghanistan 10 000 in number.

In response to that, the Bulgarian contingent in Afghanistan is likely to be reinforced by 30 additional personnel at the beginning of 2010, which may be followed by a further deployment of 70 more personnel by the end of the year, Mladenov was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian news agency BTA on December 18 2009.

The first reinforcement is poised to be 30 doctors and other medical staff and a complete field hospital, followed by the potential deployment of another 70 infantrymen by the end of the year.