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.
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.). 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 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. 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. They were organized similarly to the Soviet Union's Interior Troops as a light infantry military force. As such, the main counter-terror force of the People's Republic of Bulgaria was the Internal Troops of the Ministry of the Interior.
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. Its main task is to react against critical acts of terrorism that are aimed at the national security and safety of the citizens.Īfter 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). The Special Counter Terrorism Unit ( SOBT) ( Bulgarian: Специализиран отряд за борба с тероризма, СОБТ) is the police tactical unit of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior.
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