Spain will withdraw from Afghanistan last week of October

USPA NEWS - The Spanish Army will leave Afghanistan the last week of October, after almost 14 years of uninterrupted mission in this country. This was announced on Sunday by the Spanish Minister of Defence, Pedro Morenes.

Morenes explained that "we have fulfilled the mission and according to the Italians, who asked to remain at the base of Herat, managing the airport and the hospital until this fall." By that date, the Spanish troops leave Afghanistan, where 464 troops are deployed in the operation framed Resolute Support, the last week of October. Most of these 464 soldiers are based in Herat, headquarters of international troops in the area.

Spain arrived in Afghanistan in 2002 under the Bonn Agreement of December 22, 2001. Five days later, the Spanish Government approved the deployment of troops on the ground under NATO flag. From the start, Spain became involved in the pacification and reconstruction of Afghanistan. An operation in which the Spanish Armed Forces have conducted 28,000 patrols, traveled three million kilometers and made more than 1,400 bomb disposal missions. In Afghanistan they have left 102 Spanish military life, in accidents or attacks.

Spain initially participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, medical support, transport aircraft, ships and helicopters. Most Spanish contribution, however, came in the framework of ISAF. The first 350 soldiers were sent to Kabul and three years later took command of the base in Herat, where he launched a field hospital Role 2E and took over the provincial reconstruction team in Qala-i-Naw.