Denmark, Spain, Germany and Latvia announce they will move some of their troops from Iraq to Kuwait amid tension

CAPITALS- Danish authorities have announced that Denmark will temporarily move some of its military personnel positioned in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and in Ain Al-Asad airbase in western Iraq to Kuwait.

The announcement came after the Ain Al-Asad base was targeted by an Iranian missile strike early Wednesday in retaliation against the assassination of Lt. Gen Qassem Soleimani, Commander of Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Reuters quoted Denmark’s Prime Minister Mettle Frederiksen as saying that 30 to 40 personnel out of Denmark’s 130 personnel would remain in the base while the rest would go to Kuwait.

 A contingent of Danish soldiers based in the Iraqi capital Baghdad will also go temporarily to Kuwait, Frederiksen said.

Latvia later said it would move out six soldiers deployed in Iraq as part of the Danish contingent, and that they would also go to Kuwait, according to Reuters.

“First of all, the decision is connected with the security issues and the second reason is that all the military training in Iraq is halted at the moment,” Latvian Defense Ministry spokesman Kaspars Galkins said.

Earlier, the Spanish government announced that it has ordered the immediate withdrawal of a number of its forces from Iraq in the light of the escalation of tension in the region.

“The withdrawal of the Spanish forces will be imminent, as a number of soldiers have left”, the Spanish newspaper, Euro Weekly, quoted government officials as saying.

According to the Spanish Ministry of Defense, these soldiers are on their way to Kuwait, indicating that the remaining forces could be withdrawn if the current escalation continues.

Also, the German government has decided to reduce its military presence in Iraq, following a call from the Iraqi parliament for the international coalition of forces to leave the country over the assassination of a top Iranian commander in Baghdad, carried out by the U.S.

German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that the German military contingent in the country will be temporarily thinned out, with around 30 out of the 130 personnel serving in the country to be redeployed to neighboring countries, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a letter to their ministries.

The transfer will mainly apply to soldiers stationed in Iraq’s capital Baghdad and Taji, to the north. Soldiers in these areas are set to be moved to Jordan and Kuwait, according to Deutsche Welle.

Hamda Mustafa