Pentagon: US deploying 300 more troops to Middle East

The US is sending an additional 300 troops to the Middle East to bolster forces already deployed to the region, the Pentagon said yesterday, amid soaring regional tensions, Anadolu news agency reported.

“These additional troops will provide capabilities and explosive ordnance disposal communications and other support enablers for forces already in the region,” Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

“They are intended to support regional deterrence efforts, and further bolster US force protection capabilities.”

Ryder refused to specify where they would be sent, but ruled out any deployment to Israel. The forces are all being sent from US bases.

There have been 27 attacks on US forces in the Middle East in October, including 16 in Iraq and 11 in Syria, Ryder said. That includes six “small-scale attacks” since the US carried out a series of what it calls “self-defence strikes” on Iranian-backed groups on 26 October.

Washington sent 900 soldiers to the Middle East last week, as well as two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean.

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