US to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Middle East

(U.S. Army/file)
A U.S. Army paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pulls security during a base defense exercise on Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.

(U.S. Army/file) A U.S. Army paratrooper assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division pulls security during a base defense exercise on Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2020.

The U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, according to three people with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

It’s the latest addition of American troops after U.S. officials said last week that thousands of Marines aboard several Navy ships would head to the region.

While the Marine units are trained in missions that include supporting U.S. embassies, evacuating civilians and disaster relief, the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne are trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields.

Also Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes battered Iran as Iranian missiles and drones struck sites across the Mideast. Lebanese militant fire into northern Israel killed a woman, medics said, in the war’s first death inside Israel from cross-border drone and missile attacks. Israel has pounded Beirut, saying it is targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.

Alluding to progress in talks with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.