About 900 US troops have been deployed or are deployed in the Middle East amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said on Thursday (local time), CNN reported.
He said deployed or deployed units include the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Battery from Fort Bliss, Texas, the Patriot Battery from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the Patriot and Avenger Batteries from Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
Ryder told a press conference: “I can confirm that approximately 900 troops have subsequently deployed or are in the process of deploying to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility since our initial status of force announcement, including forces that have been deployed. orders and which are deployed from the continental United States.”
Ryder did not reveal the specific location of the deployment of these forces. However, he noted that these forces were not targeting Israel and were intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further enhance US force protection capabilities.
“Deployed and deployed units include Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Battery from Fort Bliss, Texas, Patriot Battery from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Patriot and Avenger Batteries from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and associated Air Defense Command elements from Fort Bliss and Fort Cavazos, Texas. While I won’t talk about the specific deployment locations of these forces, I can confirm that they are not going to Israel and that they are again intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further enhance US force protection capabilities,” Ryder said.
A Pentagon official added that between October 17 and 26, US and coalition forces were attacked at least 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria by a combination of one-way attack drones and missiles.
He announced that the US plans to provide two American Iron Dome systems to Israel to help further strengthen its defense capabilities.
“I can confirm that in addition to the iron dome fighters, they have been flowing into Israel. We also plan to provide the two American iron dome systems currently in our inventory to Israel to help further strengthen their air defense capabilities and protect citizens from missile attacks.” for operational security reasons, I will not discuss delivery dates or delivery dates, and we will defer to Israel to make any announcements regarding the future deployment and use of these systems,” Ryder said.
His remarks come after the Pentagon released roughly 2,000 US troops last week in preparation for deployment, which Deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said was focused on providing “air defense, security, logistics, medical, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.” and “transport support,” according to a CNN report.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and discussed the need to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza and ensure the protection of civilians.
“I spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Gallant today. We discussed the need to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza and ensure the protection of civilians. I expressed the US commitment to prevent escalation and our hope for the release of the remaining hostages,” he said. the US Secretary of Defense posted this on ‘X’ on Thursday.
A US Department of Defense statement said: “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke today with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to receive an update on Israel’s operations to restore security following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.”
The department said Austin reiterated his recognition of Israel’s role in facilitating humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza and reiterated his calls for Israel to ensure the protection of civilians.
Image Source: The Statesman
