How is Lyaskovets Possible?

On March 14th 2014 the Ministry of Interior undergoes a special operation in Lyaskovets. Its mission – to neutralize Petko Petkov, who at the time is in possession of arms and ammunition whose licenses, have expired nearly two years prior. The operation was lead by the Anti-terrorist Squad together with several MoI departments – the Psychology Institute, the Special Tactical Unit, Veliko Tarnovo Regional office and more. In the words of MoI’s General  Secretary “More than thirty people took part in the operation”. The aftermath: one dead and three injured members of the special-ops team. Petko Petkov is also injured and hospitalized.

Through the example of Lyaskovets one can see how powerful and helpless MoI is at the same time. It is as weak in its assessments and management decisions, as it is powerful in their execution.

This brief explores the chain of events and command structure that lead to the tragedy in Lyaskovets, from the perspective of poor decision-making and low competence on behalf of the people in charge of the operation.

You can read the full brief here (in Bulgarian).