Bulgarian troops "in the eye of Karbala civil war".

Karbala is stormed through a real civil war and it is hard to see its end, according to Lieutenant Petko Lilov, head of the second Bulgarian infantry unit in Iraq.

Bulgarian operative tasks remain the same though seriously aggravated and under continuous threats because of the US "terrorist cleansing" operation in the holy Shia city.

Political decision will be finally reached within days, according to Lieutenant Hristo Hristov, Bulgaria's senior representative in Iraq, who talked to reporters at a videoconference.

There have been strained efforts for finding a political outcome of the two-week US operation against the armed al-Mahdi militias inspired by Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr.

Lieut. Hristov pointed out the two options for eliminating the insurgency factor in the Shia city: an ultimatum to them to leave the city and hand over terrorists to local authorities, or the ongoing operation of "terrorist cleansing."

According to data of military reconnaissance, the Mahdi militia acting in Karbala number up to 600 people.