(Bloomberg) -- The Royal Navy plans to deploy 100 marines to the Persian Gulf to protect British ships after a series of attacks on vessels, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

Plans for the deployment began several weeks ago and a security committee is expected to meet this week to discuss the matter, the paper reported without revealing the source of the information.

Attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday have heightened fears of more assaults on commercial vessels. Four oil vessels were targeted off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last month. The U.S. deployed naval and air force assets to the region in response to the elevated risk.

To contact the reporter on this story: Verity Ratcliffe in Dubai at vratcliffe1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net, Mohammed Aly Sergie

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