US military in Iraq and Middle East prepare for coronavirus threat
“The health and safety of our forces are our top priorities,” says Col. Myles B. Caggins III, spokesman of the US-led anti-ISIS Coalition
By SETH J. FRANTZMANUS Army soldiers keep watch on the US embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq January 1, 2020(photo credit: DOD/LT. COL. ADRIAN WEALE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
The US maintains personnel at numerous bases around the Middle East. With the coronavirus spreading across Iran and into neighboring states there are questions about whether it might also spread to bases where US, anti-ISIS Coalition and Iraqi personnel work together. The US has bases in the Gulf, such as Kuwait and Bahrain, where there are coronavirus cases.The US-led anti-ISIS Coalition, Combined Joint Task Force, Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a response to what it is doing to prepare, that the Coalition “takes active measures to ensure military and civilian personnel are educated about and protected from COVID-19.” COVID-19 is the term for coronavirus. Already more than 2,000 have died and 80,000 are infected in China. Additionally, more than a dozen people are dead in Iran and almost 100 infected. New cases were found in Bahrain and Oman on Tuesday. Kuwait and many countries have closed their borders and are putting in place checks.“The health and safety of our forces are our top priorities,” says Col. Myles B. Caggins III, spokesman of the Coalition. “We are implementing guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to ensure our forces remain able to support able to support our security partners in Iraq and Syria. We have no reported cases of COVID-19 in the Coalition.”The US recently returned to anti-ISIS operations after a pause in December and January due to tensions with Iran. In December the US carried out airstrikes against an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. The US also targeted IRGC head Qasem Soleimani on January 3.In retaliation Iran fired ballistic missiles at bases where US forces are present. More than 100 personnel suffered traumatic brain injury at Ain al-Asad base where the missiles fell. In addition, Iranian-backed groups have fired rockets over the last months at bases where the US has forces and at the US embassy compound in Baghdad.In Iraq the country has found a coronavirus case in Najaf and there are suspected to be more cases in Kirkuk and Najaf. Najaf is 300 km from the Ain al-Asad base.
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