ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US is set to deploy an additional 300 troops to the Middle East, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday, as Washington increases its military deployment in the region amid the Israel-Gaza war.
“I can announce the decision to deploy an additional 300 troops to the U.S. Central Command region from home stations in the continental United States,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said during a press briefing.
Two weeks ago the US announced the deployment of two aircraft carrier strike groups to the Middle East.
Ryder said that the forces “are intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster U.S. force protection capabilities," stressing that the forces will not go to Israel.
The decision comes as US forces in Iraq and Syria as part of an international coalition to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) have been the target of a recent spate of drone and rocket attacks blamed on Iran-backed militia groups angry over Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed responsibility for the repeated rocket and drone strikes on bases in both countries, the latest being on Monday, targeting Ain al-Asad military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday announced that US forces targeted two facilities belonging to the pro-Iran militias and the IRGC in “response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks” that targeted the US forces in bases in Iraq and Syria.
Ryder said since the retaliatory strikes there have been six additional “small-scale” attacks on the US bases; three in Syria and three in Iraq.
“Right now, we're tracking a total of 27 attacks, 16 in Iraq, 11 in Syria,” said the general, adding that there were no damages or injuries due to the attack.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week urged Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to pursue the attackers of US bases and troops in Iraq.
Sudani’s spokesperson Major General Yehia Rasool had previously said that the American and other international forces are in the country on Baghdad’s invitation and attacks on bases housing them are “unacceptable.”
