Bulgaria commemorates on Sunday the five Bulgarian servicemen, who were killed in a suicide attack targeting their military base in the Iraqi city of Karbala on 27 December 2003.

The attack on the Bulgarian military base “India” was the first of the four suicide attacks targeting two bases of the coalition forces and an Iraqi police station.

The attack, which claimed the lives of five Bulgarian troops and left 27 injured, was carried out with a petrol tanker.

Veterans, relatives and friends of the killed servicemen gathered to observe a minute of silence in Karlovo and Ruse. A memorial service and a commemorative military ritual were also held.

Veterans from the first Bulgarian deployment to Iraq organized a military-tactical competition in Plovdiv in memory of their colleagues.

Bulgaria participated in the Multi-National Force – Iraq by contributing troops to the coalition forces between 2003 and 2008. During this period, thirteen Bulgarian soldiers lost their lives.