Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder did not specify how many personnel would be deployed or their mission.

With Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, the Pentagon is bracing for retaliatory action from Tehran’s network of militias and militant groups.

The additional forces, which one official placed at between 2,000 and 3,000, will bolster security for the 40,000 U.S. troops already in the region and help defend Israel, officials said.