US evacuates embassy staff from Libya

The evacuation of US Embassy staff comes after bloody clashes between rebel factions in the capital Tripoli.

Eight US diplomats and more than 200 security personnel in Libya were evacuated from the US Embassy, ​​a source close to the matter said.

Security in Tripoli is at a low level after more than two weeks of fierce fighting between rebel groups, Reuters reported. Both groups have fired rockets and artillery shells at each other in southern Tripoli near the US Embassy.

Black smoke rises in Tripoli city due to continuous fighting (Photo: Reuters)

Therefore, on July 26, the US evacuated all embassy staff across the Libyan border to Türkiye. The evacuation group was closely escorted by US military forces stationed in Libya.

Three F-16 fighter jets and an Osprey carrying several US Marines flew directly over the convoy to provide cover. After a five-hour drive from Tripoli to Tunisia, the convoy encountered no attack.

“Security must be our top priority. Unfortunately, we had to evacuate because the location of the US Embassy is too close to the area of ​​intense fighting between factions in Libya,” US State Department spokesperson Marine Harf said.

Ms. Harf also said that US Embassy staff will return to Tripoli as soon as it is safe to do so. Until then, all US Embassy operations in Libya will be conducted in other countries in the region and in Washington.

Security in Libya is an extremely sensitive issue for the US following the terrorist attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other diplomats.

The attack also caused President Obama's political reputation to plummet as Republican lawmakers said that President Obama's administration failed to ensure security and did not respond quickly to the attack while deliberately concealing its weaknesses.

Ed Royce, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, stressed on July 26 that the government needs to “engage more in ground combat against rebel forces in Libya” to control the violence there.

Speaking to reporters in Paris ahead of Middle East talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry described the situation in Libya as a “spiral of violence that has gotten out of control” and considered it a real threat to US Embassy staff.

Also on July 26, the British Foreign Office urged its citizens to leave Libya immediately due to "increasing fighting and instability there"./.

According to VOV