SOBT

After the Bulgarian Communist Party came to power on September 9, 1944, one of the first acts of the government was to form a new law enforcement agency - the People's Militia (Bulgarian: Народна милиция). In the ideological leanings of the new regime, terrorism was understood mainly as acts of industrial sabotage and ideological subversion by small groups organized and infiltrated by the countries of the capitalist world - the Socialist Bloc's main adversary during the Cold War. As such, the main counter-terror force of the People's Republic of Bulgaria was the Internal Troops of the Ministry of the Interior. They were organized similarly to the Soviet Union's Interior Troops as a light infantry military force. As such, they were deemed inadequate to provide the Ministry of the Interior with the rapid and flexible response needed to counter the highly trained terror organizations that emerged in the global terror wave of the 1970s.[3]

The Minister of the Interior at that time Colonel General Dimitar Stoyanov issued an order on December 14, 1978, for the formation of a Specialized Operational Militia Unit (Bulgarian abbreviation SOMP, or Специално оперативно милиционерско поделение (СОМП)), which is the forerunner of the SOBT. The unit was based in Sofia and was subordinated to the regional Sofia City Headquarters of the People's Militia (the police department of the capitol). The SOMP was organized into 3 assault companies, a signals platoon, and a support group (combining combat and combat service support specialists such as snipers, sappers, martial arts instructors, paratroopers, repair technicians, etc.).[4]

Shortly after the formation of the unit, it was deployed on May 24, 1981, when a Turkish McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner on a regular flight from Ankara to Istanbul was hijacked by four Turkish nationals and forced to land at the Burgas Airport. In the combined assault mounted by Bulgarian and Turkish commandos, one hijacker was shot dead and the other three were arrested with no casualties among the hostages.

On March 7, 1983, four Bulgarian nationals hijacked a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Antonov An-24 on a scheduled flight from Sofia to Varna and demanded that the airplane is diverted to Vienna. The Bulgarian authorities ordered the pilots to fly to Varna while assuring the hijackers that their demands are met and they were en route to the Austrian capital. In the meantime, a Yakovlev Yak-40 business jet with an assault group of the SOMP takes off from Sofia and overtakes the An-24 landing at the final destination ahead of it. As the flight takes place at night the local police authorities shut down the electricity in the city during the approach of the hijacked airplane to make it harder for the terrorists on board to spot the Black Sea - a highly observable indicator that this was not Vienna. In the subsequent assault, the hijackers were apprehended and the hostages were freed unharmed.

On October 3, 1986, the SOMP joined the list of the few counter-terrorism units worldwide that have successfully executed operations abroad. A group of 86 Iranians, including women and children (still more than half of them are well-built men of military age), fled the general mobilization for the Iran–Iraq War. They first arrived in Turkey, where they contracted a local travel agency to organize a vacation to East Berlin, chartering a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 from Burgas Airport. They planned to flee to West Berlin, seeking political asylum. When they arrived at Berlin Schönefeld Airport, however their plan was thwarted as the West Berlin authorities refused to admit them on their territory without proper visas. The East German border control officials at the airport collected their passports and refuse to let them off the airplane to contain a rising international scandal. The frustrated passengers took the pilots and the air hostesses of the flight and cabin crew hostages and demanded that the airplane be refuelled and diverted to Sweden. The Bulgarian government was informed and on the following morning the commander of SOMP Lt-col. Vasil Velkov flew off to Berlin together with the ready assault group under Captain Dimitar Stefanov. The assault group consisted of 5 squads of 3 master sergeants for a total of 17 people. To deceive the hijackers, the East German authorities informed them that the Swedish government has accepted the flight, but the Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-154 was unable for boarding so the group needed to board another airplane. The Bulgarian special forces devised a plan in which they hid in the Ikarus bus sent under that pretext to approach the airliner covertly. Once the ladders were in place and the doors were opened, the assault would force their way from the pilot cabin to the back of the plane. Although the assault group was heavily armed with AK-74s, machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, stun, tear gas, and smoke grenades, an incredibly bold decision was made that the assault group should leave all their firearms and combat knives behind and use only hand-to-hand combat to overwhelm the hijackers to not endanger the hostages. Four of the five 3-men squads breached into the airliner with the fifth squad in reserve. The Iranians were quickly overwhelmed. The Bulgarian commandos were unharmed, and some of the Iranians suffered minor injuries. The plane was refuelled and took off to return to Burgas. Shortly after the plane was airborne the hijackers rioted when they found out the destination. They were again rapidly subdued but out of desperation, some of them committed suicide by cutting their wrists with shattered glass from beverages. Once the airliner landed, all the Iranians were transported to the border and turned over to the Turkish authorities.[5]

During the 1980s the Bulgarian Communist government started a process of forceful assimilation of the Turkish minority, known as the "Revival Process", which triggered a series of terror acts in the whole country. The SOMP was directly involved in countering them and apprehending the perpetrators. In May 1986 the unit was reorganized. The name was changed from Specialized Operational Militia Unit to Specialized Unit for Combating Terrorism (Bulgarian: Специално поделение за борба с тероризма (SPBT)).

It was also taken out of the regional militia department of Sofia and subordinated to the Department "Terror", 6th Directorate of the Committee for State Security. The internal structure was also overhauled. The previous 3 assault companies, 1 signals platoon, and 1 support group were reshuffled into 4 identical operational combat detachments. Each detachment was made up of 3 sections and each section was made up of 12 operatives. This new internal organization enabled the continuous readiness of the unit. Under the new operational regimen, the detachments rotated in 24-hour shifts. A stand-by shift was followed by 48 hours of rest and recuperation and a training shift of 24 hours after which the detachment went into a 24-hour stand-by shift a so on.

After the Communist regime came down the Committee for State Security was disbanded and its directorates became separate services for intelligence, counterintelligence, combating organized crime, and close protection service for the state officials, etc. The unit was placed directly under the subordination of the Minister of the Interior.

In total 152 men are serving in the SOBT.

In the year 2003 the unit was once again reorganized, gaining its current name of Specialized Counter Terrorism Unit (Bulgarian: Специализиран отряд за борба с тероризма (SOBT)) and the following structure:

Headquarters (14 men)
Office (5 men)
Planning Group (6 men)
Logistics Department (26 men)

• Transportation and vehicles (11 men)
• Communication (3 men)
• Armory (2 men)
• Economic base (10 men)

Operations and Missions Department (101 men)

• Headquarters (9 men)
• Defence and tactical security (4 men)
• 4 Commando groups/ Sectors 01-04 (19 men)
  • Group leader (1 man)
  • 3 Teams (6 men)
• Sector "Training and Education" (12 men)
  • Fitness and martial arts (1 man)
  • Group "Combat and Para" (5 men)
  • Group "Tactical Training" (2 men)
  • Group "Strategic Training" (2 men)
  • Group "Pyrotechnics and Demolitions" (2 men)

When there are vacant slots within SOBT, or new roles must be filled, the Bulgarian ministry of interior affairs (MVR) releases dates for a selection exam on its official website. This examination lasts 2 days, during which volunteers will be expected to demonstrate an adequate level of physical condition, and undergo a brief psychological test in the form of a one hour interview. Note that there is no requirement for previous experience with firearms. After successfully passing selection, fresh units undergo heavy training for about 6 months. That is usually enough time for the men to go through all of the training to be assigned to a unit and be ready for deployment. The entry examination is not overly selective with the goal of having the 6 month training period act as the main filter. Naturally, daily rigorous training and exercises continue even after these 6 months. To be a team leader requires extensive training that could mean at least one more year of training though some train for three additional years. After around a year of being in the unit, operators can be selected for a more specific role, such as sniper, diver or paratrooper. The selection for these roles is entirely done by the SOBT instructors and current manpower needs. The SOBT has conducted training exercises with respected foreign special forces teams, such as the french RAID (French Police unit). Around the year 2016, SOBT appears to have collaborated with a US special forces Liaison element, during which both equipment and new, extensive tactical knowledge was acquired by SOBT.[6] According to an interview with a lead SOBT instructor, the positive results of this collaboration were clear in the 2018 ATLAS exercise. [7]

The SOBT uses armoured vehicles to get around and a body armour superior in ballistic characteristics to the standard Kevlar Vest. They also use other heat and fire-resistant clothing as well as various weather-proof clothes.

• Spetsnaz-BG:How to enter SOBT