
The Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army General Zlatan Stoykov announced Sunday Bulgaria was going to increase its military presence in Afghanistan. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)
Bulgaria is going to increase its contingent in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2009.
The news was announced Sunday by the Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Army General Zlatan Stoykov.
In his words, NATO had asked Bulgaria to increase its troops in Afghanistan. The scope of the surge in Bulgaria's forces in the Central Asian country, however, was still unclear as Stoykov's General Staff was first going to craft an expert opinion, which was then going to be presented to the respective national institutions. Bulgaria currently has 460 troops in Afghanistan.
Stoykov and Bulgaria's Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev visited Sunday the Butmir base of the Bulgarian unit at EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina where they met with the Bulgarian soldiers serving there.
116 Bulgarian troops are stationed in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo guarding checkpoints where they guard several checkpoints.