WASHINGTON: The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials told Reuters on Monday. The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.
Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers.
The Pentagon said it did not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned. The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks. Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen’s Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.
US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
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US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
- Experts say that this had put the B-2s in a position to operate in the Middle East
Thais, Cambodians fear returning home despite border truce, fearing violence
- On the Cambodian side, 35-year-old So Choeun said she expected to give birth within days and hoped to then take her baby home, about 1 kilometer from the border
BANGKOK: At a Thai university-turned-shelter for displaced people, Kanlaya Somjettana is reluctant to go home even after a truce halted weeks of border clashes with Cambodia, fearing the violence may not be over.
She said some people forced to flee the fighting began returning home on Sunday, a day after the ceasefire was announced, but many evacuees on both sides of the border preferred waiting for an official word that it was safe.
Some cited a lack of trust that the neighboring country would respect the truce, after previous ones had been broken.
“I really hope this ceasefire will last long and we can return home,” 21-year-old homemaker Kanlaya said from the university campus in Thailand’s Surin city.
FASTFACT
Officials on both sides said the day-old ceasefire was holding on Sunday, but for most areas, there has been no all-clear notice just yet.
“But I will not go back home as long as authorities do not confirm that it is safe,” she said, adding that the evacuation center was now less crowded, although hundreds remained there.
On the Cambodian side, 35-year-old So Choeun said she expected to give birth within days and hoped to then take her baby home, about 1 kilometer from the border.
But not yet, said the woman sheltering with family under makeshift tents at a Buddhist pagoda in Banteay Meanchey province.
“Despite the ceasefire, we dare not return home yet. We are still frightened,” she said.
“We will wait to see the situation for a few days, if it will stay calm.”
Officials on both sides said the day-old ceasefire was holding on Sunday, but for most areas, there has been no all-clear notice just yet.
The truce follows three weeks of renewed cross-border fighting that killed at least 47 people and displaced more than a million on both sides.
