US sending 3,000 more troops to Mideast as reinforcements
The United States said Friday it is sending nearly
3,000 more army troops to the Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing
of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Defense officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon, said the
troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the
82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of
the US Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their
supporters.
The reinforcements took shape as Trump gave his
first comments on the strike, declaring that he ordered the killing of Iranian
Gen. Qassem Soleimani because he was “plotting to kill” many Americans.
“He should have been taken out many years ago,” he
added.
The strike marked a major escalation in the conflict
between Washington and Iran, as Iran vowed “harsh retaliation” for the killing
of the senior military leader.
The United States urged its citizens to leave Iraq
“immediately” as fears mounted that the strike and any retaliation by Iran
could ignite a conflict that engulfs the region.
