US boosting forces in Middle East by a 'few thousand' troops

WASHINGTON — The United States is boosting its forces in the Middle East by a "few thousand" troops, by bringing in new units while extending others that are already there, the Pentagon said.

The increase in Washington's military presence in the Middle East comes as the growing Israel-Hizbollah conflict, which saw Israel kill the Lebanese militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah last week, raises fears of a wider regional war.

"A certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region... will be extended and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment" those that are already there, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists on Monday.

"These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel," Singh said, later adding that there will be "an additional few thousand" personnel in the region as a result.

Later on Monday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin offered support to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant for "dismantling attack infrastructure" belonging to Hizbollah along the border with Lebanon.

Austin also warned Iran of "serious consequences" should it directly strike Israel in response to its attacks on the Tehran-backed militant group.

Israel announced the following day that Gallant had briefed Austin on "localised and targeted" ground operations targeting Hizbollah positions in South Lebanon — a further escalation of the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.