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There are more than 1,100 Spanish soldiers who are in the hottest and most delicate area in the world right now. They participate in international missions in Iraq and Lebanon and from today they are in maximum tension, on alert. No one is able to predict what the evolution in the area may be after the United States operation in Iraq against Iranian General Soleimani.

Military sources explained to EL MUNDO that the communication of the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles , with these two contingents is permanent and the update of orders to be taken care of, so that they keep self-protection measures, too. And from there, the military carry messages of calm and tranquility. For the moment everything remains in a tense calm. But the United States has already recommended its nationals to leave Iraq.

In Iraq, the country where the deadly attack against the Iranian general has been carried out, 550 Spanish soldiers are working. The vast majority, except for a small group of controls, is deployed at the base of Besmaya. There are more than 500 soldiers who are there participating in 'peace missions', just 50 kilometers from the capital. The Spanish contingent has a first main mission: the training of the Iraqi military.

In this mission, the military is primarily engaged in training and commissioning of the new Iraqi army. In fact, there are more than 5,000 soldiers and commanders from that country who have already gone through Spanish military education. In addition, with the passage of the different contingents, Spanish commanders even accompanied the Iraqi officers in combat to advise on these tasks.

It is about Iraq having an organized and reliable force capable of dealing with a penetration like the one that the Islamic State had reached in that country. The Spanish force participates in an international coalition against international terrorism led by the United States. Now, the terrorist hornet is unpredictable.

In the Spanish deployment, Civil Guard agents have also been involved for three years, carrying out training for future police officers, as well as more personnel for health and safety services for the Spanish base itself.

The operation started in 2014 and from the outset Spain was involved in the coalition against terrorism. Our country directs a training mission, contributing its extensive experience in multinational missions in scenarios ranging from Afghanistan to Somalia or Mali.

The Spanish military who are currently deployed in Iraq are distributed between the towns of Baghdad, Taji and the Grand Captain Base, in the training complex of the Iraqi army of Besmayah, where most of the troops are located.

Also part of the Spanish contingent deployed in Iraq, are the military belonging to the Task Force Toro (Helicopter Unit) whose main mission is to provide air transport to the Coalition troops, with Chinook and Cougar helicopters.

It is estimated that the Islamic State has between Iraq and Syria with a figure of 10,000 to 20,000 combatants, including 2,000 foreigners. It is feared that the last United States operation may be used by members of the terrorist group to sow more confusion in the area.

This is not the first time that Spain participates in a mission and Iraq. Already in 2003 he was part of the Lasting Freedom performance. After the attacks in Madrid on 11-M 2004, the new president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero ordered the withdrawal of the troops in a decision that caused enormous tension with the United States, which led the action.

As for the mission of Lebanon, the situation is at least as delicate. Israel-Iran relations, in the spotlight, and Spain, turned into a kind of border police in that region. Thus, the Spanish military is in a tense sequence of hours since Trump ordered the attack on the Iranian general.

It is their turn to be in a hornet, which does not bite at the moment. "But we have to be, we can't let our guard down. It's an area of ​​maximum tension where nothing happens, but the pressure is chewed , but ..." Do not conclude the sentence.

Who speaks with THE WORLD is a military man assigned to position 4-28, on the southern border of Lebanon with Israel, 40 kilometers from Damascus, where Corporal Soria died in 2015, by a mortar thrown from Israel.

The defense of the Blue Line agreed between Israel, Lebanon and the United Nations is the great mission of the contingent, with half a thousand men.

The attack at Baghdad airport makes that area even more unstable, where Israel and Iran are enemies. And Israel's closeness to the United States is a reality. Among the possibilities that are being considered: a response from Iran to Trump's allies in the area, in Israel. What would place the Spanish military in a critical situation.

The Spanish Armed Forces were deployed in Lebanon in September 2006. The bulk of the contingent in the Libre Hidalgo operation is located at the Miguel de Cervantes base, near the town of Marjayún where the East Sector Headquarters is, led by Spain. There are also Spanish personnel in the headquarters of the mission in Naqoura.

The Spanish military conduct patrols on foot and by vehicle, to permanently monitor the line of separation between Lebanon and Israel . They also establish observatories and carry out other activities in collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), all aimed at ensuring compliance with United Nations resolution 1701 and preventing situations that may lead to escalation. of tension between the parts.

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  • Iraq
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  • Islamic State

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