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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Bulgarian troops return from Afghanistan
Photo: Stoyan Nenov
Bulgarian troops from Sixth Regiment who were on rotation in Afghanistan returned to Bulgaria late on February 8 2010, Bulgarian National Television reported.
In total, 260 Bulgarian solders out of the 600-strong contingent have returned home. They were greeted at the airport by Defence Minister Anyo Angelov and Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov.
The detachment of Bulgarian solders were guarding the airport of Kandahar as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition force.
"The Bulgarian soldiers fulfilled their mission under very precarious circumstances while their base in Kandahar was under almost constant bombardment," Angelov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency Focus.
He said that the remaining Bulgarian troops and the reinforcements which would be deployed to Afghanistan would not be amalgamated and deployed solely in one location by the end of the year, as previously proposed.
In January 2010, Bulgaria requested that its entire military contingent in Afghanistan be based in the city of Kandahar, instead of being dispersed in three different locations - Kabul, Kandahar and Herat - as is the case now.
The then Defence Minister Mladenov, now Foreign Minister, made the proposal to ISAF commanding officer General Stanley McChrystal, Dnevnik daily said on January 21 2010.
The Bulgarian argument is that deploying all Bulgarian troops on one location would make them more effective and would cut logistics costs, which would in turn facilitate sending more Bulgarian troops to Afghanistan..
The only likely relocation will concern the Bulgarian military medical unit based in Herat. They are likely to be dispatched to the hospital in Kandahar which is currently under construction.
Defence Minister Angelov said that some 5 000 Afghanistan National Army (ANA) officers need training, and that there is a possibility for a number of those Afghan army officers to be sent to Bulgaria where they are to undergo training, although there is no confirmed decision on the matter as of yet, Focus said.
In total, 260 Bulgarian solders out of the 600-strong contingent have returned home. They were greeted at the airport by Defence Minister Anyo Angelov and Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov.
The detachment of Bulgarian solders were guarding the airport of Kandahar as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition force.
"The Bulgarian soldiers fulfilled their mission under very precarious circumstances while their base in Kandahar was under almost constant bombardment," Angelov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency Focus.
He said that the remaining Bulgarian troops and the reinforcements which would be deployed to Afghanistan would not be amalgamated and deployed solely in one location by the end of the year, as previously proposed.
In January 2010, Bulgaria requested that its entire military contingent in Afghanistan be based in the city of Kandahar, instead of being dispersed in three different locations - Kabul, Kandahar and Herat - as is the case now.
The then Defence Minister Mladenov, now Foreign Minister, made the proposal to ISAF commanding officer General Stanley McChrystal, Dnevnik daily said on January 21 2010.
The Bulgarian argument is that deploying all Bulgarian troops on one location would make them more effective and would cut logistics costs, which would in turn facilitate sending more Bulgarian troops to Afghanistan..
The only likely relocation will concern the Bulgarian military medical unit based in Herat. They are likely to be dispatched to the hospital in Kandahar which is currently under construction.
Defence Minister Angelov said that some 5 000 Afghanistan National Army (ANA) officers need training, and that there is a possibility for a number of those Afghan army officers to be sent to Bulgaria where they are to undergo training, although there is no confirmed decision on the matter as of yet, Focus said.
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