Pentagon chief orders two aircraft carrier strike groups to remain in Middle East
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the presence of two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Sunday, strengthening the US military presence amid soaring regional tensions.
The announcement, made in a summary of a call between Austin and his Israeli counterpart, represents a shift. The Pentagon had initially deployed the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group into the region with a plan to replace the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.
Earlier, top US military official General C.Q. Brown arrived in Israel, hours after major cross-border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to hold meetings with senior Israeli military officials.
Iran-backed Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a bigger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare.
Three deaths were confirmed in Lebanon and one in Israel, where damage appeared to be limited. Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes yet. Israel’s foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war.
The Lebanese group said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Shukr.
Israel’s military said it had foiled a much larger attack with pre-emptive airstrikes after assessing that Hezbollah was preparing to launch the barrage, using 100 jets to strike more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon.
The strikes destroyed thousands of launcher barrels, aimed mostly at northern Israel but also targeting some central areas, Israel’s military said.
Hezbollah dismissed Israel’s statement that the group’s attack had been foiled with pre-emptive strikes, saying it had been able to launch its drones as planned and that the rest of its response to Shukr’s killing would take “some time.”
