Three Bulgarian soldiers were lightly wounded in an ambush in the Iraqi city of Karbala. Hours later a Bulgarian driver was shot dead in a gunfire attack near Nasiriya.
The Bulgarian troops, together with Polish and American soldiers, were returning to the Polish camp 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 were evacuated to the hospital in the Polish camp of Lima, but the lives of the three 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.
According to the Polish commandment three Polish soldiers were also wounded in the attacks.
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.
On Tuesday afternoon a truck driven by Mario Manchev, from the Bulgarian haulier company SOMAT, and several other vehicles were attacked by unknown assailants in the afternoon. The company informed that there were no other casualties
The situation in the city 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.