US military presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan

Washington has more than 60,000 troops in the Middle East and is planning to deploy more forces amid tensions with Iran.

INTERACTIVE: US military in Iraq outside image

Days after the United States assassinated top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad, Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops.

Following the retaliatory attack on January 8, Iran‘s President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran’s “final answer” to Soleimani’s killing will “be to kick all US forces out of the region”, while Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp said the missile assaults were just the start of a series of attacks across the region. 

The US has between 60,000 and 70,000 troops in the Middle East, according to the US Central Command, and has announced plans to deploy thousands of additional troops to the region amid the heightened tensions.

This map shows where US soldiers are deployed in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as some of the major bases they are stationed at in the region.

 

INTERACTIVE: US forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan

   

INTERACTIVE: US bases in the Middle East

 

 

Source: Al Jazeera