DAKAR, Feb 3 - The U.S. has sent a small team of troops to Nigeria, the general in charge of the U.S. command for Africa said on Tuesday, the first acknowledgment of U.S. forces on the ground since Washington struck by air on Christmas Day.

The U.S. Army has stood up a rotational force in the Philippines, according to recently released defense media. Army Rotational Force-Philippines, a previously unknown formation, was revealed for the first time Thursday following a meeting last month between the ground service and Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia in Manila.

As President Donald Trump considers a major strike on Iran after discussions about limiting that nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production haven’t progressed, the US military has accelerated a weeks-long buildup of military hardware in the Middle East,

The scale of the buildup seems aimed at readying forces for expansive operations, analysts said.

U.S. Central Command warned Iran it will not tolerate "any unsafe and unprofessional behavior" near American forces ahead of live-fire naval drills.

Congress is backing increases to the size of the military, having passed and proposed final legislation that will raise and fund rises in end strength.

A “multi-day readiness exercise” will take place after Donald Trump deployed an “armada” to the Middle East.

The Pentagon has sent a host of U.S. military assets into the Middle East over the past several weeks, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, as