MADRID, March 18 (Reuters) – Spain plans to evacuate and relocate troops deployed in Iraq in the coming days due to the conflict in Iran and the wider Gulf region, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.
Around 300 Spanish troops are deployed in Iraq, both as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State formed in 2015 under Operation Inherent Resolve and a separate NATO mission advising Iraqi government forces since 2018.
The ministry had already said on Sunday that a special forces unit comprising 71 soldiers had been temporarily relocated from their base given the impossibility of carrying out tasks such as training Iraqi counter-terrorism forces.
Robles did not elaborate on where the troops would be moved to.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week, has quickly become a regional conflict that shows no signs of de-escalation. Spain has criticised the offensive and banned U.S. aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain.
Other NATO allies such as Germany or Norway are also sharply drawing down their presence in the region due to the security risks. Berlin has pulled Bundeswehr troops from Lebanon and northern Iraq’s Erbil, while Oslo said it was relocating some of the around 60 soldiers it has in the Middle East.
A drone attack in northern Iraq killed a French soldier and wounded six others last week.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Latona and Alison Williams)
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