200 US soldiers and military advisors have recently arrived in Ayn al-Assad air base in Western Iraq, an Iraqi officer said on Tuesday.
“200 US troops and military advisors entered al-Assad air base in al-Anbar province,” General Nezam al-Juqaifi, a commander of Hashd al-Sha’abi (popular forces) told al-Ma’louma news website.
“The US military advisors have held long meetings with al-Anbar security commanders,” he added.
US media had reported last month that about 400 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, will deploy to Iraq as part of the military’s effort to set up a logistics base at an airfield South of Mosul.
The soldiers are part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and are among the 560 additional troops that President Barack Obama approved for the Iraq mission in July, FOX news reported.
The US troop authorization for Iraq is 4,647. The Pentagon says there are about 3,800 US forces there, not including hundreds who are on temporary duty and not included in the official count.
