US to send 1,400 soldiers to Liberia

The United States is set to send some 1,400 forces to Liberia to help fight spread of Ebola in the West African country.

On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said at a press conference in Washington that about 700 soldiers from the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division and another 700 military engineers would be dispatched to Liberian capital Monrovia around late October.

The engineers will be tasked with overseeing the construction of 17 Ebola treatment centers with a total of 1,700 beds.

There are already 200 US military personnel in Liberia as part of the 3,000 troops.

In an interview with Press TV on September 9, American activist and journalist Abayomi Azikiwe said that Washington was using the epidemic of the Ebola virus to advance its imperialist agenda in West Africa.

“I believe this is just another means for the United States military intelligence’s deeper penetration of the African continent. Already the United States has military presence in Libya, in Sierra Leone, as well in the west African state of Nigeria, all of which have been… impacted by the epidemic of the Ebola virus,” Azikiwe said.

Ebola has already claimed more than 3,000 lives in West Africa and a small number of US aid workers have recovered after being treated in the United States.

There is currently no known cure for Ebola, which is a form of hemorrhagic fever with diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding as its symptoms.

The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can also be spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

NT/GJH