NOURNEWS - The Spanish Ministry of Defense has announced that it will return its last troops from the Gren Captain strategic base in Basmaya, Iraq, 45 km southeast of Baghdad, by the end of July.Prior to Corona's spread, 350 Spanish troops were stationed at the base.
The Spanish Defense Ministry said the reason for the decision was the end of the mission of the Spanish-led International Coalition against ISIS in Basmaya to educate and train the Iraqi army and police.
Since the deployment of Spanish troops at the Captain Gren Camp in February 2015, more than 50,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained in 17 military units and 10 police units and they are being trained by The military of this European country.
With the withdrawal of troops from the Basmaya base, 80 troops from the Spanish Army will remain in Iraq, stationed at the Taji base, 30 km from Baghdad.
Caesar Garcia, senior Spanish military official in Iraq, spoke in a video interview with King Philip VI on the Armed Forces Day. implying that : "Our mission in this country is over, and the level of training of Iraqi forces is advancing every day, and they will defeat ISIS in the near future."
The military also announced the return of the last Spanish troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year (2020) or early next year (2021) before the deadline for Washington's agreement with the Taliban; The Spanish military has been on a NATO mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, since 2002.
IRNA