US aircraft carrier in Gulf likely to help cover US troop withdrawal

U.S. commanders have asked for the deployment of an aircraft carrier to help protect US and NATO troops as they withdraw from Afghanistan, two senior Defense officials told NBC News.

According to NBC, with fighter squadrons at the ready, an aircraft carrier in the region could provide additional cover in case U.S. and other NATO forces come under fire as they withdraw.

The request, reports NBC, underscores concerns at the Pentagon that the Taliban may choose to launch attacks on NATO troops as they pull out.

The U.S. Naval Institute’s USNI News meanwhile reported the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group’s current stop in the Middle East could be extended to help cover the withdrawal of foreign troops.

Citing two defense officials, USNI said Thursday that USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carrier Air Wing 3 and IKE’s escorts were operating in the North Arabian Sea to support the ongoing anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve.

The officials said CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie has sent a request to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for the strike group to remain in the area instead of continuing on with its planned operations in other regions.

While US President Joe Biden has set a September 11 date as deadline for the complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, it is unclear how long a strike group would be required to be in the region or if it would be asked to extend beyond the typical six-month deployment length, USNI reported.

A statement from a Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, responding to a Wednesday story from The New York Times on a carrier deploying to the Middle East, would not confirm details of assets involved in the withdrawal.

But, Kirby said in the statement: “We will do everything possible to protect our troops.”

On Thursday McKenzie meanwhile assured US lawmakers in testimony to the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. would be able to adequately cover the withdrawal in case Taliban forces attacked.

“We’re prepared if the Taliban wanted to take shots at us. Today, after [May 1], or any time during the withdrawal,” McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Yes, we will bring additional resources in [to the region] in order to protect the force as it comes out. That’s normal in any kind of disengagement operation, and I don’t want to go into the detail of those operations right now, but we will have additional capabilities and I’m confident that we and our coalition partners will be able to extract ourselves.”

According to USNI, the Eisenhower Strike Group has been in the Middle East since early April, after a Suez Canal transit that was delayed due to the canal blockage by merchant ship Ever Given.

USNI News reports that IKE was set to return to the Mediterranean Sea later in the deployment, but those plans will likely be set aside.

When the strike group deployed, the Navy gave hints it would participate more with NATO forces rather than maintain the constant presence in the Middle East, USNI reported.