Marine unit en route to Sudan to secure US Embassy

15 September FOX News

A U.S. official says an elite Marine rapid response team is headed to Sudan in the wake of violence and protests against the embassy in Khartoum. The deployment comes as Sudanese police opened fire on protesters trying to climb the walls of the U.S. Embassy.

The Marine unit, known as a fleet antiterrorism security team, was sent in response to Friday's violence and as a precautionary measure, The move follows news that Marines arrived on the ground in Yemen to deal with the aftermath of another attack on the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Sanaa. They arrived in addition to an earlier contingent dispatched to Tripoli.

Pentagon spokesman George Little told Fox News the team is in Yemen as a "precautionary measure." The move comes amid reports that protesters jumped over U.S. Embassy walls in both Sudan and Tunisia. At least 3 people have been reported dead and another 28 have been wounded during the Tunisia attack, Reuters reports, citing state television. Reuters also reported that protesters set fire to trees and broke windows inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Tunis.

A senior U.S. official, without explaining the extent of the breach in the latter attack, told Fox News that Tunisian security forces "have responded effectively" so far to the incident.