Sailors and Marines stand on the deck of the USS Bataan (LHD 5) as it arrives into Pier 88 during the "Parade of Ships" ceremony to kick off Fleet Week in New York. (File photo: AFP)
US Navy cancels joint exercises in Morocco, redeploys troops to the Middle East
A US Navy ship carrying thousands of Marines will skip a scheduled training exercise in Morocco and is making its way closer to the Middle East amid heightened tensions in the region, according to USNI News.
The US Bataan carrying an estimate of 2,200 Marines aboard are now making its way to the Middle East after revising plans to conduct joint training exercises with the Moroccan military, according to the media division of the United States Naval Institute.
The decision comes just a day after the United States confirmed it was sending nearly 3,000 additional troops to the Middle East from the 82nd Airborne Division as a precaution amid rising threats to American forces in the region.
Iran promised vengeance after a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday killed Qassem Soleimani, Tehran’s most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.
(With Reuters)
