World

Bulgarian among French troops killed in Afghanistan

Published Updated

The ministry identified the man as Svilen Simeonov, 34, a sergeant from the French Foreign Legion, citing information by the French authorities.

An Afghan soldier opened fire against French troops during a sports session inside their Gwan base in eastern Afghanistan Friday, killing four and wounding another 15, eight of them seriously.

The attack prompted President Nikolas Sarkozy to mull an accelerated withdrawal of France's 3,600-strong contingent in NATO's International Security Assisstance Force in Afghanistan.

Bulgaria, which has 614 soldiers, army instructors and military doctors in the war-torn country, had not previously suffered any casualties there.

A government withdrawal plan approved in November envisages a complete pullout of Bulgarian troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012