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Published December 20, 2015
The Pentagon announced the deployment of three more Army units to Iraq and Afghanistan Wednesday, as part of the upcoming rotation of forces scheduled for late summer and early fall.
Approximately 1,250 soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum, New York, will deploy to Iraq, where there are approximately 3,500 U.S. troops stationed.
Meanwhile about 300 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division also stationed at Fort Drum and 1,000 soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, will deploy to Afghanistan.
The Pentagon also confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. conducted the first drone strike from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey against ISIS Tuesday after Turkey allowed the U.S. greater access to the base in July.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis declined to give specifics of the target, but confirmed to reporters the strike was against ISIS and in defense of the New Syrian Force – a 55-man force trained and sent into Syria last month by the U.S.
A senior defense official told Fox News that the U.S. is planning to begin manned strike missions against ISIS beginning next week, missions that would include fighter jets and possibly bombers too.
When asked if Turkey gave permission for the U.S. to launch the strikes Capt. Davis said, “it is not a formal permission process."
The announcements came days after it was revealed that the year-long U.S. led campaign against ISIS has failed to reduce the size of the terror group, raising concerns that the war is a “stalemate.”
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-announces-deployments-to-iraq-afghanistan-confirms-drone-strike-against-isis