The US Navy Command announced that the aircraft carrier “Harry Truman” headed to the Middle East at the head of a strike group.
The US Navy Command said in a statement: “The aircraft carrier “Harry Truman” of the “Nimitz” class left the Norfolk Naval Base for the scheduled deployment.”
The statement indicated that two destroyers and a missile cruiser will join “Harry Truman” “to conduct a scheduled deployment in the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa area of operations and the US Sixth Fleet.”
Admiral Daryl Caudle, Commander of the US Fleet Command, said that this deployment “comes in the wake of the nine-month mission of the aircraft carrier strike group “Dwight D. Eisenhower”, which highlighted the need for our continued presence amid escalating international tensions.”
An Italian Navy frigate is expected to join the US strike group to participate in operations and exercises during part of its mission.
The dispatch of the “Harry Truman” to the Middle East comes against the backdrop of the escalation of the
war between Israel and “Hezbollah”.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder stated that the United States currently has 40,000 troops in the Middle East, adding that due to tensions in the region, a limited additional number of US soldiers will be sent there, without going into details “for security reasons”.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency