JAKARTA - Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has issued permission to withdraw troops from the Italian contingent that is part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) amid the escalating situation in the Middle East.
"The situation is very complex, and if we consider that our military presence and the presence of the United Nations are useless... we already have the means, both naval and air, to repatriate our soldiers to Italy," Crosetto said in an interview with radio RTL 102.5.
According to him, the decision regarding the possibility of withdrawal will be made together with other countries.
Crosetto explained that despite the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, there had been no attacks on the Italian UN peacekeeping base in Lebanon in recent days, but the base had suffered damage from debris.
At the same time, the Croatian Ministry of Defense announced that eight Croatian soldiers had been evacuated from NATO missions in Iraq and Lebanon.
"Seven Croatian soldiers participating in the NATO mission in Iraq were safely evacuated today, we managed to complete the evacuation of Croatian soldiers from the mission in Lebanon last week and now from Iraq. We thank our allies for their assistance in the evacuation of eight Croatian soldiers," the ministry said.
Spain has also evacuated 100 soldiers from Iraq, while 200 soldiers are still in the country, said Defense Minister Margarita Robles.
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