Pentagon to delay departure of brigade from Iraq

WASHINGTON, Sep 25 (Reuters) The US military, seeking to maintain its current elevated troop levels in Iraq, intends to delay the upcoming departure of roughly 3,500 soldiers serving in the Ramadi area, defense officials said today.

The soldiers are from a brigade of the Army's 1st Armored Division, which is based in Germany, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been formally announced.

They will be kept over less than two months past the date when they were scheduled to leave Iraq, one official said.

The soldiers are serving in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency.

This marks the second time in two months that the military has opted to extend a brigade in Iraq beyond its planned departure date in order to deal with unrelenting violence in Iraq 3-1/2 years into the war.

The United States currently has 142,000 troops in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

REUTERS MQA PM2018