There will be some changes in the zones of the different military units from the multinational contingent under Polish command "Center-South" in Iraq, Bulgaria's Defense Ministry reported. Some of the tasks the soldiers are currently carrying out in Karbala will also be redistributed.

Some new defense barriers are being constructed near the Kilo military base that houses the Bulgarian unit in Karbala. Right after these barriers are constructed the part of the Basra-Baghdad highway, currently closed, will be opened. The closure of the highway stirred some public discontent in the southern Iraqi city.

Bulgaria's Defense Ministry also announced that the ship transporting the equipment of the replacement unit has successfully arrived in Kuwait.

The rotation of the two Bulgarian units began January 15 when one hundred and fifty seven soldiers from the country's replacement unit left for Iraq and seventy-seven Bulgarian soldiers returned to Sofia.

The country plans to rotate the peacekeepers in Karbala with the 480-strong replacement unit by the middle of February. The Bulgarian troops have been deployed in Iraq as part of a 9,000-strong Polish-led multinational contingent in Iraq.