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The Presence of Tanks in Melilla Worries Morocco

Spanish army battle tanks drove through the streets of the city of Melilla last Tuesday. The maneuver did not go unnoticed on the Moroccan side.

“Tanks roam the streets of the occupied city [Melilla]”, reported the Moroccan press without knowing the reason for this maneuver. In reality, the presence of these tanks in the autonomous city was due to an exercise to test the loading capacity of the new logistics transport ship of the army, Ysabel, understands Vozpopuli, specifying that these machines were moved from the base. of the cavalry unit ‘Alcรกntara 10’ in Melilla towards the port of the city.

This army ship was commissioned last June by the Spanish Navy. It comes “to reinforce the logistics transport capacities by a sea of โ€‹โ€‹the armies, both on national territory and in the area of โ€‹โ€‹operations”, explains the Spanish Ministry of Defence. The Ysabel ship has a cargo capacity of more than a thousand military vehicles and battle tanks.

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“These types of ships are essential for the logistical support of the military units located in Ceuta and Melilla, at the rocks and islands of Spanish sovereignty in North Africa, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, and to the detachments in the missions at the foreigner in Lebanon and Turkeyโ€, details the Ministry of Defence.

Relations between Spain and Morocco remain tense. The kingdom’s ambassador to Madrid, Karima Benyaich, recalled to Rabat in May, has still not returned to her post. For the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josรฉ Manuel Albares, the resumption of relations is progressing, but will take as much time as necessary.

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