US Navy strike group responds to increasing Lebanon, Syria tension

A US Navy (USN) expeditionary strike group has been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in the wake of increasing tensions between Lebanon and Syria.

The strike group is led by the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship USS Nassau and includes the Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Nashville, the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Ashland, the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Bulkeley and USS Ross. The six vessels left the United States on 19 and 20 February, the navy said.

The destroyer USS Cole - which was seriously damaged in a terrorist attack in Aden in 2000 - is already in international waters off the coast of Lebanon, accompanied by two refuelling ships.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Nassau group would operate in the region "for a while" and that the deployment signals the navy "is engaged" in "a very important part of the world".

Image: The expeditionary strike group, led by USS Nassau, heads for the eastern Mediterranean (US Navy) 159 of 405 words