Sunday, January 5, 2014

Marines Evacuate US Embassy in South Sudan


By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2014 – Marines evacuated about 20 U.S. Embassy staff members from the deteriorating security situation in Juba, South Sudan, on the same day the State Department announced it will add $49.8 million to humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to help victims of the conflict there.

The new aid brings to $300 million the assistance the United States has provided in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 to help South Sudanese victims of conflict and refugees seeking asylum in South Sudan, according to a media note released today by the State Department.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren briefed the press about the evacuation from Juba requested by the State Department.

"Early this morning," he said, "the Department of Defense sent two KC-130 aircraft [pre-positioned in Entebbe, Uganda, and] assigned to the Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response, also called the SPMAGTF-CR, … to Juba to evacuate approximately 20 personnel."

Soldiers from the East Africa Response Force, assigned to U.S. Africa Command and under the command and control of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, will continue to provide security reinforcement to the U.S. Embassy in Juba, according to an Africom statement also issued today.

Read it all here.

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