US Military Bases In Middle East

Washington: The United States has thousands of troops deployed on military bases across the Middle East for decades.

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With the recent escalations in the region, AFP examines countries with major concentrations of US forces in the Middle East, which falls under the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM).

Bahrain

The tiny Gulf kingdom hosts an installation known as Naval Support Activity Bahrain, where the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and US Naval Forces Central Command headquarters are based.

US bases in Bahrain. Screengrab from americansecurityproject

Bahrain's deep-water port can accommodate the largest US military vessels, such as aircraft carriers, and the US Navy has used the base in the country since 1948, when the facility was operated by Britain's Royal Navy.

Several US ships have their home port in Bahrain, including four anti-mine vessels and two logistical support ships.

The US Coast Guard also has vessels in the country, including six fast response cutters.

Kuwait

Kuwait has several US bases, including Camp Arifjan, the location of the forward headquarters for the US Army component of CENTCOM.

US bases in Kuwait. Screengrab from americansecurityproject

Ali al-Salem Air Base hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, the "primary airlift hub and gateway for delivering combat power to joint and coalition forces" in the region.

Additionally, the United States has drones including MQ-9 Reapers in Kuwait.

Qatar

Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar includes the forward components of CENTCOM, as well as of its air forces and special operation forces in the region.

US bases in Qatar. Screengrab from americansecurityproject

It also hosts rotating combat aircraft, as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which includes "airlift, aerial refueling intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and aeromedical evacuation assets."

United Arab Emirates

Al Dahfra Air Base in the UAE hosts the US 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, a force that is composed of 10 squadrons of aircraft and also includes drones such as MQ-9 Reapers.

US bases in UAE. Screengrab from americansecurityproject

Combat aircraft have rotated through Al Dhafra, which also hosts the Gulf Air Warfare Center for air and missile defense training.

Iraq

The United States has troops at various installations in Iraq, including Al-Asad and Arbil air bases.

US bases in Iraq and Syria. Screengrab from americansecurityproject

The Iraqi government is a close ally of Iran, but also a strategic partner of the United States.

There are some 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State.

Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition's forces from the country.

Syria

The United States has for years maintained troop presences at a series of installations in Syria as part of international efforts against the Islamic State group, which rose out of the country's civil war to overrun large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

The Pentagon announced in April that it would roughly halve the number of its forces in the country to less than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a "consolidation" of US troops in the country.

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