US President Barack Obama has ordered a military contingent of about 45 soldiers to deploy to South Sudan equipped for combat.
Obama writes in a letter to the Congress that their purpose is to protect US citizens and property and that they would remain in South Sudan until the security situation there improved.
“South Sudan stands at the precipice,” Obama writes. “Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past.”
The soldiers are being dispatched from the US Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, according to US media reports.
The soldiers would reinforce the existing contingent of US Marines already at the Embassy in Juba, which were only a handful in number before the latest crisis.
According to a press release by the US military, a separate army force already reached Juba to provide interim security until the Marines arrive. The force consists of members of the army’s East Africa Response Force, based in Djibouti.
Photo: US Marine Corps security guard in Tripoli, Libya (Marine Corps)