Senior Sergeant Dimitrov
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=40712
One Bulgarian soldier died and three others were wounded Sunday in Iraq when a truck loaded with explosives blew up near their convoy near the southern city Karbala.
Senior Sergeant Vladimir Pashov, 35, died of his wounds while being transported to a hospital. The other three Bulgarian soldiers, who were lightly injured, were immediately rushed into the Lima base hospital with no risk for their lives.
Two of the soldiers, Chavdar Sarafov and Anton Yankov, are still in the hospital, while Miroslav Georgiev has already been discharged from hospital.
The incident took place at about 5 p.m. Bulgarian time. The convoy was returning to Karbala when it was attacked with car-bomb. During the attack one Bulgarian vehicle was destroyed.
This is the seventh Bulgarian soldier killed in Iraq. Last December, a cistern bomb destroyed the Bulgarian camp, claiming the lives of five soldiers. On April 23 Bulgarian Senior Sergeant Dimitrov was killed in a Karbala ambush. When a Bulgarian unit was first deployed in the city, it was considered rather a peaceful one. Experts commented that the Karbala Shiites were well predisposed toward the coalition troops.
Currently there are some 480 Bulgarian soldiers based in the Iraqi province of Karbala as part of a Polish-led multinational contingent. Bulgaria agreed in September to relocate its troops from Karbala to the Diwaniyah base where the Spanish troops were located before their withdrawal.
Bulgaria's Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov, President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg have been informed for the tragic event.