By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - There is “no change to US force posture” in the Middle East following the deadly mass explosion of pagers in Lebanon, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
"There's been no change to US force posture," Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
His remarks came after at least nine people were killed and 2,750 wounded in simultaneous detonations of pagers in Lebanon on Tuesday.
"In terms of the reports on the attacks .... I just don't have anything to provide in that regard, obviously, something that we're continuing to monitor, but don't have any information to provide," Ryder said.
He said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Tuesday, without giving further information on whether they held a phone call before or after the attack.
"As far as escalation, broadly speaking, in the Middle East. I mean, this is something that we've been paying attention to for more than almost a year now, since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7," Ryder said, adding Austin has been "very focused" on ensuring that the tensions in the region do not escalate into a wider regional conflict.
"We strongly believe that the best way to reduce the tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border is through diplomacy, and that will continue to be our focus," he stressed.