US deploys Patriot air defence system to Iraq

The United States has deployed Patriot air defence batteries to Iraqi bases to protect American troops recently targeted by Iranian missiles, US and Iraqi military sources told AFP Monday. Washington and Baghdad had been negotiating the placement of the defence system since January, when Tehran fired ballistic missiles at the western Iraqi base of Ain al-Asad, which hosts American and other foreign troops. One of the Patriot batteries was deployed to Ain al-Asad last week and was being assembled, said US sources. Another battery was deployed to a base in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. Two further batteries destined for Iraq were still in Kuwait.