(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The United States is sending battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year-old invasion, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Citing unnamed U.S. officers and defense officials, the paper said General David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, approved the deployment last month.
"The deployment of a company of M1 Abrams tanks, which will be fielded by the Marines in the country's southwest, will allow ground forces to target insurgents from a greater distance -- and with more of a lethal punch -- than is possible from any other U.S. military vehicle," the Post said.
The initial deployment calls for 16 tanks to be used in parts of Helmand province, the paper said.
It said Canadian and Danish troops have used a small number of tanks in southern Afghanistan.
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