US Sending More Troops to Middle East: Pentagon

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The US currently has about 40,000 troops in the region.

On Monday, the aircraft carrier USS Truman, two destroyers and a cruiser set sail from Norfolk, Virginia, headed to the Mediterranean on a regularly scheduled deployment, opening the possibility that the US could keep both the Truman and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is in the Gulf of Oman, nearby in case further violence breaks out.

“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional US military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region. But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics.”

The new deployments come after significant strikes by Israeli forces against targets inside Lebanon that have killed hundreds and as Israel is preparing to conduct further operations.