Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has formed a Marine Corps unit to intervene in North Africa.

The Defense Department has overseen the transfer of hundreds of Marines to Italy as part of a rapid-response team in North Africa.

Officials said nearly 200 Marines were already on alert in the southern Italian town of Sigonella to any threat to U.S. interests in such countries as Libya and Tunisia.

“We’ve forward positioned them to Sigonella, where they’ll be able to respond more quickly to any crisis in North Africa,” Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren said.

In a briefing on May 14, Warren said the Marine force was requested by the State Department, which operates U.S. embassies throughout North Africa. The spokesman did not specify any threat to U.S. interests.

Officials said the Marine force was organized in wake of criticism by Congress to U.S. security in Libya. The State Department was blamed for being unprepared for the Al Qaida-aligned assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2012, in which ambassador Christopher Stevens and three of his aides were killed.

Warren said the Marine Force was ordered to protect U.S. embassies and personnel in North Africa and other regions. He said the force was equipped with six aircraft — two KC-130 Hercules and four MV-22 Ospreys.

“These forces are capable of moving anywhere,” Warren said.

In 2014, the State Department has placed U.S. embassies throughout the
Middle East on alert for an Al Qaida attack. In early May, the U.S. embassy
in Yemen suspended operations amid an Al Qaida abduction campaign of Western
diplomats.

Officials said the immediate threat stemmed from Libya, where the army
was unable to stop attacks by Islamist militias. They said the militias
might attempt another attack on a U.S. facility or personnel in the North
African state.

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