Six Slovenian soldiers, deployed in the German-led Inherent Resolve operation in Erbil, will be evacuated from Iraq, Slovenia's defence ministry said on Wednesday morning. The announcement comes in the wake of Iranian missile strikes on the al-Asad airbase in Erbil on Tuesday night.

The ministry confirmed that Slovenian troops would be pulled out together with German soldiers also serving there .

On Tuesday, Croatia’s defence ministry announced 14 Croatian troops would be pulled out from Iraqi capital Baghdad and relocated to Kuwait, while another seven whose tours have ended would be sent back to Croatia, with no immediate plans to replace them.

NATO has some 500 personnel in Iraq, mainly trasked with training Iraqi military. In the aftermath of the American killing of top Iranian commander Qassim Suleimani in Baghdad last week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that due to security concerns the mission would be temporarily suspended with personnel relocated within and outside of Iraq.

Slovakia already moved its seven soldiers, Canada announced it would move some of its 500 military personnel to Kuwait, and Germany announced it would scale back its presence, which includes 120 soldiers on the ground.

At the same time, the US decided to deploy some 4,500 troops to the region, mostly to Kuwait, where they will stand prepared to assist some 5,200 American soldiers in Iraq as they fortify and prepare for Iran’s likely retaliation for the killing of Suleimani.