Soldiers of the East Africa Response Force prepare to load onto a US Air Force C-130 Hercules at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti on Dec. 18.
The US Defense Department has deployed a small team of marines to Uganda to prepare for possible further evacuations of Americans from violence-hit South Sudan.
The Pentagon said it had moved about 50 Marines to Uganda out of the roughly 150 it stationed this week in Djibouti for possible evacuation of US citizens.
On Monday, about 150 Marines from the special crisis-response team were transported from Spain to Djibouti, the site of a major US base.
“This forward posturing provides … additional options and the ability to more quickly respond, if required, to help protect US personnel and facilities,” said Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
About 100 Americans were evacuated on Sunday after a previous rescue attempt on Saturday had failed when US aircraft came under fire from rebels on the ground, with four US troops wounded.
South Sudan has seen an outbreak of violence since Dec. 15 that has left thousands dead, according to the United Nations.
The crisis began after the countryâ„¢s President Salva Kiir accused Vice-President Riek Machar of attempting a coup, an accusation that Machar has denied.
With some 4,000-5,000 personnel on the ground at any given time, the United States now has more troops in Africa than at any point since its Somalia intervention two decades ago.
That intervention ended in humiliation and withdrawal after the 1993 “Blackhawk Down” debacle in which 18 US soldiers died.
AHT/ARA
Source: Press TV