Bulgaria's parliament on Wednesday approved a government decision to send a 120-member non-combat unit to Iraq.

Lawmakers voted 151-14 to adopt the decision, under which Bulgaria will send 120 servicemen and a further 35 personnel in a supporting team to Iraq on a one-year assignment.

The resolution means Bulgaria will again be part of the multinational forces in Iraq after pulling back its troops in December.

Reports here said the Bulgarian soldiers would be under United States command and would be deployed to guard the Ashraf refugee camp, which is located some 70 kilometers north of Baghdad.

Earlier, Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov said the unit was scheduled to depart Bulgaria for Iraq by the end of March, if approved by parliament.

Bulgaria joined the U.S.led forces in Iraq in August 2003 and has lost 13 soldiers in the worn-torn country. Seven of them died in insurgent attacks, one was killed by U.S. troops in a friendly fire incident and five died in vehicle accidents.

Source: Xinhua