A Pentagon spokesman said Saturday that more than 3,000 US troops scheduled to deploy to Iraq won’t go after all, as the military tries to draw down troop levels in the war-torn country.

Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh said that the 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division will not replace a North Carolina National Guard unit already in Iraq. He added that the 3,500-troop combat team, based in Fort Drum, New York, was originally set to leave in January.

Butterbaugh said, “[The cancellation] reflects a thorough assessment of the security environment in Iraq and continued improvement in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to safeguard Iraqi citizens and institutions.”

He added that the National Guard unit is still on schedule to return home, which will speed up the drawdown of forces.

The troop withdrawal in Iraq coincides with a debate in the Obama administration on whether to send as many as 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. As of Friday, 250 US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the year, according to Pentagon numbers.

(article and photo source: CNN)