Additional 3,500 U.S. troops complete deployment to the Middle East

[Financial News]

The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, carrying about 3,500 personnel from the United States Navy and Marine Corps, has arrived in its area of responsibility, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on the 28th local time.
According to The Hill, CENTCOM said the forces arrived the previous day and that the deployment includes roughly 3,500 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU), as well as transport aircraft, strike fighters, and amphibious assault and tactical assets.
The USS Tripoli also serves as the flagship of the 31st MEU.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) last week moved up the schedule to deploy two additional warships carrying thousands of Marines to the region.
The USS Boxer (LHD-4), homeported in San Diego, departed on the 25th with at least 2,200 Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (11th MEU) on board. It is expected to arrive in the Middle East within a month.
The troop buildup is taking place even as opposition to sending ground forces grows within the United States.
President Donald John Trump has said he will not send ground troops for combat, but he has hinted at the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s key crude oil export hub. Any such occupation would inevitably require ground forces.
This additional deployment of U.S. ground forces comes as fears of a wider war intensify, after Houthi rebels in the Republic of Yemen, backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched two missile attacks on the State of Israel for the first time since the current conflict began.
United States Secretary of State Marco Antonio Rubio told reporters on the 27th, after a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers, that the war is likely to continue for several more weeks.


dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter