Three Bulgarian soldiers were lightly wounded in an ambush in the Iraqi town of Karbala.
The Bulgarian troops, together with Polish and American soldiers, were returning to the Polish camp in a convoy from an assignment to review and assess the situation in the region.
Lieutenant Dyulgerov, Senior Sergeant Dimitrov and Private Lazarov are the names of the Bulgarian casualties in the attack, which occurred at about 3 p.m. Bulgarian time. Dyulgerov and Lazarov have been evacuated to the hospital in the Polish camp of Lima, but their lives are out of danger.
A second attack struck the troops while they were being evacuated from the Polish camp, but no casualties were reported. The Bulgarian troops who happened to be there repelled the attack immediately and secured the safe evacuation of the wounded.
Earlier the Bulgarian Kilo base in Karbala came under heavy fire from light weapons and grenade launchers at about 01:40 a.m. local time. No casualties or damages were reported in the attack.
The situation in the town is tense and Bulgaria's unit remains under Force Protection Delta, the highest level of security alert by NATO standards.
The attacks happen amid escalating violence across the war-torn country, with over 20 killed and 200 injured in yesterday's Shiite clashes in Najaf.
Bulgarian soldier Nenko Kotov got lightly wounded Sunday night, when patrolling troops came under gunfire. Doctors have taken a bullet out of his shoulder.