Dozens of military service members have been sent to Africa to help protect Americans in the war-torn city of Juba .
The State Dept reportedly requested the deployment amid a tense cease-fire in the region. Close to 50 troops arrived at the US Embassy in Juba, Sudan on Tuesday, President Obama told Congress this week.
According to the Marine Corps Times, the troops are Marine security guards from the Corps’ embassy reinforcement team.
“The troops come from one of the Marine Corps’ land-based Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces, (SPMAGTF) which can quickly reinforce U.S. diplomatic outposts,” the Times report said.
The Corps stations its SPMAGTF’s to give the most flexibility to commanders in case a crisis develops. In this case, the military personnel have been pre-positioned in Djibouti – a neighboring country located in the Horn of Africa.
The Marines will be ready to go if they need to respond to a crisis mission in South Sudan. Similarly, back in 2014, a crisis team based in Italy helped evacuate personnel from the US Embassy in Libya’s capital city, after intense fighting broke out there.
The violent clashes in Sudan have left hundreds dead in the capital and have forced tens of thousands of Sudanese civilians to flee their homes –according to the United Nations.
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