Multi-National Force – Iraq

Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria are all withdrawing troops from Iraq following the recent flare-up of hostilities between the US and Iran.

Romania and Croatia said on Tuesday that they have joined other NATO countries in withdrawing military personnel from Iraq following the Baghdad parliament's call for foreign troops to leave the country in reaction to the US killing of a top Iranian general near the Iraqi capital on January 4.

Bulgaria commemorates on Sunday the five Bulgarian servicemen, who were killed in a suicide attack targeting their military base in the Iraqi city of Karbala on 27 December 2003.

The attack on the Bulgarian military base "India" was the first of the four suicide attacks targeting two bases of the coalition forces and an Iraqi police station.

Iraq asked NATO on Dec. 8 to put pressure on alliance member Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately from northern Iraq after Ankara said it would not deploy any more but refused to pull out those already there.