31 Dec 2019Military.com
At least 100 infantry Marines from a crisis response unit designed to respond to emergencies at U.S. embassies have been dispatched to Iraq, where supporters of an Iran-backed militia smashed into an American diplomatic facility on Tuesday.
The Marines are assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, a ground-based unit spread across the Middle East, U.S. officials confirmed to Military.com. Video footage taken near the embassy shows some of the Marines arriving in Baghdad by helicopter.
The California-based 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, is the infantry unit currently assigned to the crisis response task force. The unit — one of several the Marine Corps created following the deadly 2012 attack on a U.S. post in Benghazi, Libya — not only includes ground forces, but also air and logistics capabilities.
The Marines are trained and equipped to respond to a host of crises in the region, including security emergencies at U.S. embassies.
Related: US Fed Up with Baghdad’s Failure to Act Against Iran-Backed Militias, State Officials Say
The grunts were sent in response to a mob breaching the embassy in Baghdad. The group broke down a door and set fire to the embassy’s reception room in apparent retaliation for U.S. airstrikes carried out this weekend.
As people tried to scale the embassy walls, reporters said they were shouting “Death to America” and “Down, down USA!”
The breach was met with tear gas and sounds of gunfire, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
U.S. Army Apache helicopters later flew over the embassy, dropping flares in a show of force, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing ongoing developments on the ground.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that Pentagon leaders are working closely with the State Department to ensure the security of personnel at the embassy.
“We have taken appropriate force protection actions to ensure the safety of American citizens, military personnel and diplomats in country, and to ensure our right of self-defense,” he said in a statement. “We are sending additional forces to support our personnel at the Embassy.”
Esper then called on the Iraqi government to “fulfill its international responsibilities” to protect U.S. personnel at the embassy. The AP reported that Iraqi security forces made no effort to stop the protesters as they passed into the heavily fortified Green Zone, letting them pass through a security checkpoint leading to the area.
Tensions have been high in the region, where the U.S. launched airstrikes Sunday on five Iranian-backed militia positions in Iraq and Syria. The strikes followed a series of rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq from the Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah militia.
One of those attacks killed a U.S. contractor and wounded four American troops.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the strikes were intended to degrade the group’s ability to carry out future attacks on U.S. and coalition troops. But Iraqi leaders have called the strikes, which killed dozens of members of the militia, a violation of that country’s sovereignty.
The Marine Corps crisis response unit that’s helping shore up security at the U.S. embassy includes about 2,000 more Marines.
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— Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
— Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com.
Read more: Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia, Mob Breach US Embassy Compound
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