/based on the publication in the Maritsa Newspaper/
145 rangers from the Bulgarian battalion flew off yesterday, from the Krumovo Airport, Plovdiv, exactly at 4 pm. Their equipment included bulletproof vests, each weighing 23 kg, automatic guns and pistols. They are leaving to places in Iraq where there still is a heavy gorilla war. The Bulgarian unit contains 13 women. The plane TU-145 belonging to the Bulgaria Air Charter Company will initially land in Kuwait, where our rangers will be waiting for the ship carrying their equipment to arrive. They will be escorted to the Iraqi town of Kerbala by US Marine officers. The rest 270 Bulgarian soldiers from our unit will leave today and tomorrow. One of the worst problems they will be facing is the very high temperature in Iraq. Moreover, that is not a proper peacekeeping mission, according to Col. Zdravko Dachev, Battalion?s Chief of Staff. What needs to be still done is to destroy Saddam?s forces and to support the temporary political administration in its preparation for the forthcoming country?s elections.Before leaving, each of the mission?s participants had a bank account opened and personally received an amount of 1000 USD. The reporters of the Maritsa Newspaper calculated that our compatriots would receive a monthly payment of approximately 2000 USD each.