Bulgaria extends Iraq military commitment

SOFIA, Bulgaria, March 6 (UPI) -- Bulgaria's Cabinet voted Thursday to extend its military commitment in Iraq, the Sofia News Agency reported.

The country has 155 soldiers participating in the Multinational Force deployed as guards at the Ashraf refugee camp for Iranians in central Iraq.

Bulgaria has lost 13 of its soldiers since joining the mission, five of them in a December 2003 terror attack in Iraq, the Sofia Echo said.

As part of the existing agreement, the United States assists with transportation costs of rotating troops in and out of Iraq, SNA said.

The U.N. Security Council approved extending the Multinational Force mission through the end of 2008 in late December.