The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya’s coast as a \u201cprecautionary\u201d move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US defense official said. Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the home of Libya’s new premier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya\u2019s new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP.<\/p>\n
An aide to Maiteeq said\u00a0“there was an attack with rockets and small arms on the prime minister’s house”<\/em>in Tripoli at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT). Maiteeq\u2019s guards opened fire on the attackers, wounding and arresting two of them, the official added.<\/p>\n In reaction to the heightened strife in Libya, the USS Bataan, stocked with several helicopters in addition to the Marines, is to be in the nation\u2019s coastal area\u00a0\u201cin a matter of days,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the anonymous official said, according to AFP.<\/p>\n The preemptive move is a reaction to increasingly violent militia battles, which could threaten the American embassy\u2019s security, the official said.<\/p>\n The US also has 250 available Marines, seven Osprey combat aircraft, and three refueling aircraft in Sigonella, Italy, AFP reported.<\/p>\n The US State Department said last week that its embassy in Tripoli was operating as usual despite offensives\u00a0launched<\/a>\u00a0by a dissident general, Khalifa Haftar, against the\u00a0Libyan parliament<\/a>\u00a0and Islamist factions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mohamed Zahawi, the head of Libya\u2019s Ansar Al-Sharia militant group in Benghazi, warned against any US interference in the nation\u2019s ongoing tumult.<\/p>\n Zahawi accused the US government of backing General Haftar, a\u00a0“new Gaddafi,”<\/em>\u00a0and an\u00a0“agent of American intelligence.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe remind America, if they intervene, of their defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, because they would face in Libya something much worse,”<\/em>\u00a0he said in a statement on Tuesday.\u00a0“It was America who urged Haftar to turn the country towards war and bloodshed.”<\/em><\/p>\n