Spain to withdraw troops from Iraq due to Middle East conflict

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, The Strait Times writes, citing Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles.

Around 300 Spanish troops are deployed in Iraq, both as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State formed in 2015 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.