MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) — In October, Spain has trained the country’s army in the coastal autonomous community of Valencia to control the mass riots, however authorities failed to explain why the soldiers had to undergo such training, El Publico reported Wednesday.
“They have shown us how to arrest people, how to put the handcuffs on and control the masses, everything like this, but they have not explained for what mission this training was required,” one of the soldiers said as quoted by El Publico.
The military sources told the newspaper that they had found the exercises strange and unprecedented.
A drills participant said that in the barracks the soldiers have been told that they must be ready for anything during these uneasy times. The exercises were extremely tough, including the use of force, and some soldiers got injured during the drills.
The participants explained that what really worried them was the fact that they had never heard of similar exercises in Spain before, and that the reasons behind the decision to hold such drills remained unclear.
The newspaper’s sources say that over 200 soldiers were trained under the supervision of the military police, which has been specially relocated from Zaragoza.
The regiment that took part in the drills also participates in various international United Nations assignments, according to El Publico.
