Spain is preparing to evacuate and relocate its soldiers active in the Iraq mission for safety reasons after the American-Israeli attack on Iran," confirmed Spain's defence minister Margarita Robles, quoted by the public broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday.
Robles has stated that the evacuation of soldiers is to be carried out in the coming days. However, she did not give details of where the troops would be transferred.
According to the EFE agency, citing the Ministry of Defence, more than 70 soldiers from the peculiar Operations Group have already been "provisionally relocated" on the weekend from their base due to the deterioration of the safety situation in Iraq following the US and Israel attack on Iran.
Spanish soldiers have been stationed in Iraq since 2014; presently there are about 300 of them. They participate in an global coalition against the alleged muslim State (ISIS) and NATO Mission (NMI), which has been in operation since 2018 to advise and train Iraqi safety forces. According to plans, the Spanish general was to take command of the mission from France in late May.
AB, PAP
