US trucker convoys prompt National Guard deployment in Washington

The US is to deploy hundreds of unarmed National Guard troops to Washington ahead of the arrival of trucker convoys protesting against pandemic restrictions.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from the District of Columbia government and the US Capitol police for 700 troops.

Around 25 separate convoys plan to join forces and converge on the nation’s capital, to replicate recent protests in Canada.

The stand-off there paralysed Ottawa for days.