Additional 150 U.S. troops sent to Juba to guard embassy and to protect staffs

Additional 150 U.S. troops sent to Juba to guard embassy and to protect staffs

Washington, DC, July 20, 2016 (GSN) - President Obama is deploying up to 150 additional troops to South Sudan to secure the U.S. Embassy and personnel in the capital of Juba as violence erupts amid the collapse of a year-old cease-fire.

On Wednesday, Obama informed Congress that he sent 47 troops there on Tuesday. The new troops began deploying on Thursday, Obama wrote lawmakers in a letter dated Friday mandated by the War Powers Resolution.

The bulk of the additional force, equipped with "appropriate combat equipment," was already standing by in neighboring Djibouti. They have now been sent to Uganda for the same purpose. "It is not possible to know at this time the precise scope or the duration of the deployments of U.S. armed forces necessary to support the security of U.S. citizens and property in South Sudan," Obama wrote on the same day the Pentagon announced it was sending hundreds more troops to Iraq.

"I have directed this action consistent with my responsibility to protect U.S. citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests," Obama wrote about the South Sudan deployment.  

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