Spain has quietly pulled its special forces out of Iraq after deteriorating security conditions made it impossible to continue operations safely, the Spanish Ministry of Defense confirmed Sunday. Spain currently has about 300 troops deployed in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition against ISIS.
The Special Operations Task Group had been training Iraqi counter-terrorism units in Baghdad and at bases in Kurdish-controlled areas in the north. Madrid said its Special Operations Task Group was relocated to undisclosed secure locations after the situation on the ground made training missions with Iraqi forces completely untenable.
It's unknown where the commandos were moved to, but Turkey may be the safest regional country at this point, given that even American bases in Jordan have been hit by Iranian ballistic missiles and/or drone strikes.
American sites in Iraq are under attack from Iraq and local pro-Tehran militia groups, which has included the US Embassy in Baghdad being struck by a drone over the weekend, causing a broad withdrawal of Western coalition forces.
Spain's withdrawal follows a deadly drone strike Thursday on a French military base near Erbil that killed Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion and wounded several other French soldiers. An Iranian-made Shahed drone hit the Mala Qara facility dozens of miles southwest of Erbil.
French President Emmanuel Macron slammed the attack as "unacceptable" - stressing that French forces are deployed strictly for counter-terrorism missions against ISIS. "The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks," Macron said.
Italy has also begun quietly pulling personnel from Iraq, after Prime Minister Meloni essentially said Trump's Iran war is not Italy's fight. Military.com reports Monday:
Italy has also begun pulling back some of its military personnel stationed in the region. The Italian defense ministry confirmed that troops stationed at a base in Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region were being withdrawn as the security situation deteriorated.
The base had hosted more than 300 Italian troops before the current escalation. Roughly 100 of those personnel have already returned to Italy, while around 40 others have been relocated to Jordan as part of the repositioning effort.
The decision to accelerate the withdrawal came after a drone strike hit the base in Erbil, highlighting the growing risks faced by foreign forces operating in the region as the war spreads. No Italian personnel were injured in that attack. Italian officials said the move was primarily intended to protect personnel as the regional security environment deteriorates.
Italian troops are expected to at least keep a light footprint in the region broadly, given that "Meloni has also stressed that tens of thousands of Italian citizens live across the Middle East and Gulf region, while roughly 2,000 Italian troops remain deployed across various missions in the area." She has explained protecting those citizens and personnel remains a top priority, but also that Italy can't be a party to the war.