Embassy attack prompts U.S. troop deployment

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Soldiers board a plane at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Wednesday for deployment to the Middle East. Associated Press/Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/The Fayetteville Observer

Embassy attack prompts U.S. troop deployment

The United States sent about 750 paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait on Wednesday in response to an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Up to 4,000 U.S. troops are on alert for swift deployment to the Middle East.

Why was the embassy attacked? Pro-Iran militiamen stormed the embassy compound on Tuesday in protest of recent U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets in Iraq and Syria. The protesters broke down a main door and set a waiting area on fire. American forces and personnel were safe. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage occurred, at any of our facilities.” U.S. Marines repelled the attack, and the protesters, who numbered about 6,000, dispersed Wednesday.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s reports about the recent unrest in Iran and Iraq in The Sift.

Samantha Gobba

Samantha is a freelancer for WORLD Digital. She is a graduate of the World Journalism Institute, holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Hillsdale College, and has a multiple-subject teaching credential from California State University. Samantha resides in Chico, Calif., with her husband and their two sons.