Sana’a: An elite Marine rapid response team of United States (US) has arrived in Yemen’s capital in the wake of violent protests at the U.S. Embassy over a film mocking Islam.
According to Pentagon press secretary George Little, the decision to dispatch about 50 Marines to Sanaa was partly in response to the violence and partly as a precautionary measure.
Processions were taken out in Yemen and other parts of the Muslim world with violent protestors killing four US diplomats including the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stephens, in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.
The Marines are members of a platoon from a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, a specially trained and configured group that makes short-notice deployments in response to terrorist threats and to reinforce security at U.S. embassies.
Earlier, a similar team was dispatched to Tripoli, capital of Libya, on Wednesday in response to the deadly consulate attack in Benghazi.
Little said no other such teams had been sent to Cairo or other Arab capitals, such as Tunis and Khartoum, where protesters have been demonstrating over the video that mocks the Prophet Mohammed.
A senior U.S. official said that since the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, U.S. intelligence services have deployed extra surveillance equipment over Libya’s populated areas. That equipment was added to the surveillance drones that have flown over the region at least since the Libyan revolution last year.
The official would not confirm the type nor which U.S. agency was running them.
The storming of the embassy embarrassed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a U.S. ally who quickly offered an apology to President Barack Obama and ordered an investigation into the incident.
Yemen, a key U.S. ally, is struggling against multiple challenges since mass protests forced long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down last year.
The United States, eager to help the country recover from the upheaval that has put the impoverished state on the verge of collapse, has said it would provide $345 million in security, humanitarian and development assistance this year, more than double last year’s aid.
Yemen is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),\ which is viewed by Washington as the most dangerous branch of the militant network established by Osama bin Laden.
The Yemeni army has been waging a military campaign against AQAP. Washington has been providing logistical support, including the use of drones to target militants.
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