US Special Forces Mistakenly Storm Factory In Bulgaria

A team of US Special Forces officers mistakenly stormed into a factory while carrying out a training exercise in Bulgaria.

Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade had been taking part in a military training exercise in

Cheshnegirovo, which involved simulating seizing and securing a decommissioned airfield.

The soldiers cleared out numerous bunkers in the airfield, but things went wrong when they accidentally ended up entering an area that belongs to a private business that makes machinery for olive oil.

Footage shows the moment of the raid, with soldiers armed with assault rifles checking the territory and leaving it after a while.

Incredibly, the factory workers appear to stay quite calm during the intrusion.

The US Embassy in Bulgaria has apologised for the incident and has launched an investigation.

In a statement the Embassy said: "During the course of this exercise, soldiers simulated entering and clearing multiple bunkers and structures across the airfield.

Kim Engineering LTD/Ruptly

"On May 11, soldiers entered and cleared a building next to the airfield that they believed was part of the training area, but that was occupied by Bulgarian civilians operating a private business.

"No weapons were fired at any time during this interaction.

"The U.S. Army takes training seriously and prioritises the safety of our soldiers, our allies, and civilians. We sincerely apologise to the business and its employees.

"We always learn from these exercises and are fully investigating the cause of this mistake.

"We will implement rigorous procedures to clearly define our training areas and prevent this type of incident in the future."

Bulgarian Minister of Defence Georgi Panayotov called the incident 'an obvious misunderstanding' and stressed that there had been no violence or force used towards any of the civilian factory workers.

Panayotov apologised and offered to stump up to cover any material damage.

The factory's owner has referred the incident to the District and Military Prosecution Offices.

Anton Kutev, the caretaker cabinet's spokesperson, said. "The incident will be investigated with the utmost urgency. US troops worldwide are subject to probes, at least by the US Army, whose qualities hardly anyone doubts."

Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva claimed the owner has since filed a lawsuit over the incident.

Topics: World News, US

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19