Cyprus, Kuwait and Lebanon: hypotheses on the deployment of Italian troops

The escalation in the Middle East pushes Italia to rethink the deployment of its military in the areas more or less directly affected by the crisis. Faced with an evolving situation, the strategy is registering new pieces as the hours go by. The chapters on which attention is currently focused are three: Cyprus, Kuwait and Lebanon.

A crew of over 160 men from the Italian Navy is ready to head for Cyprus aboard the missile frigate Federico Martinengo, to defend the island against attacks from Iran or Lebanon: they will be able to spot any drones or rockets up to a distance of around two hundred kilometres by radar, while the Aster missiles, active within a radius of one hundred kilometres, could neutralise the threats. This is not a new type of operation for the Martinengo, which last year concluded its engagement in the European Eunavfor Aspides mission in the Red Sea, returning to the Taranto naval base after protecting merchant traffic from Houthi threats in Yemen. Instead, the new mission, already announced by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, will take place within an all-European framework in coordination with Spain, France, and the Netherlands, which will also send their own ships. The urgency is to prevent the escalation in the Middle East, which has in fact extended to EU territory, from spreading further.

Another chapter, within the same scenario, which is that of Iran's reaction to the attack operation conducted by the US and Israel, is that of the aid to the Gulf countries announced in recent days, for which there is ongoing reflection precisely because of the constantly changing scenarios. Moving the powerful ground-to-air defence system Samp/T to Kuwait or the Emirates is not an easy operation and it will be necessary to understand whether, with a progressive reduction in the Iranian arsenal, its use will prove necessary or other instruments will be needed. The use of the French-Italian anti-aircraft would then require a team of at least seventy people specially trained and capable of operating in the various positions, from the command post to the radar to each launcher. Other devices, such as stingers or the drones themselves, might not require personnel. However, Rome has radars and a series of electronic intelligence tools at its disposal through the satellite network. In the meantime, clearing operations continue from the Ali al Salem base in Kuwait, which was hit again after the first attack last Saturday, without any major damage to the two Italian F2000 fighters present: "Only shrapnel projections", assure well-informed sources. A partial evacuation has already been ordered for days, with a movement of 239 Italian military personnel towards Saudi Arabia: of the 321, 82 will remain.

Another priority dossier is that of Lebanon. Beirut fears that the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon could turn into a prolonged military presence along the entire border strip. The United Nations mission in the south of the country (Unifil), which includes about a thousand Italian soldiers, has confirmed movements of Israeli soldiers in Lebanese territory. According to various assessments, these operations are aimed at controlling a series of hills and high ground that would allow large regions in the south and the main communication routes between the south and the interior to be guarded. "The situation in the south remains strictly complex and delicate," clarified General Diodato Abagnara, commander of the mission, host of the Start programme on Sky TG24. "From a strictly operational point of view, we are taking security measures for our personnel," he added. "This includes the fact that at certain times, under fire from both sides, we are forced to stay in bunkers, without prejudice to the fact that we continue to guarantee the fundamental operations to implement resolution 1701. We are waiting for developments and further assessments: in case the decision is made for evacuation, an Italian ship is ready to arrive.