US to send 700 extra troops to Iraq to reinforce prisons (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is to send an extra 700 troops to
Iraq to strengthen its forces guarding US-run prisons, a Defence Department spokesman said.

The extra troops will come from the 82nd Airborne Division.

"The battalion is being deployed to Iraq. They are going to assist in detention operations," said the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable.

The Washington Post said the number of prisoners in US-run detention centres in Iraq has doubled in the past 11 months from 5,400 to 10,800.

Venable said the deployment was not linked to "any force level adjustment associated with the elections period" in Iraq.

AFP/File Photo: A US soldier in a sentry post throws down a bag of sweets to children..

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