Precautionary Measures at US Embassy, Protection Force Expected to Land in Beirut

Demonstrators burn a photograph of US President Donald Trump during a protest by few dozen people near the US embassy in Awkar, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Demonstrators burn a photograph of US President Donald Trump during a protest by few dozen people near the US embassy in Awkar, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Precautionary Measures at US Embassy, Protection Force Expected to Land in Beirut

Demonstrators burn a photograph of US President Donald Trump during a protest by few dozen people near the US embassy in Awkar, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Demonstrators burn a photograph of US President Donald Trump during a protest by few dozen people near the US embassy in Awkar, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

The US embassy in Beirut has taken preventive security measures, pending the arrival of a US military force from Italy to bolster protection and counter Iranian threats.

A US military official announced that this force was preparing to head to Lebanon, following the killing of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force Qassem Soleimani, by a US airstrike near Baghdad International Airport at dawn on Friday.

Sources with knowledge of the matter told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forces could arrive by air or sea.

“In the first case, they can land in the Army’s Hamat base in the north of the country, where US soldiers are training the Lebanese Army on the use of American weapons; as for the second case, the forces could arrive by sea through the nearest point to the embassy’s headquarters in Awkar,” the sources said.

The military official said that the force stationed in Italy was put on alert as a step within a series of military measures to protect American interests in the Middle East region. He explained that the US Department of Defense might send between 130 and 700 soldiers to Beirut.

A Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that other security measures were imposed on the embassy’s staff, “including the ambassador, diplomats, administrative and security personnel, in addition to Americans working or residing in Lebanon or the Lebanese who hold US citizenship.”

In parallel, the ambassador of a major country advised officials in Lebanon to overcome the obstacles that prevent the formation of a new government “because the coming days are full of dangerous developments,” official sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources noted that “urgent contacts between people in Beirut and officials in Tehran have not ceased… to find the best retaliatory response,” adding that the US target could be “at sea on a warship or the assassination of a US figure or an ambassador, or striking an embassy.”



More than 73 Sudanese Dead Due to Worsening Health Situation in Al-Jazira State

People fleeing Sudan’s southern Al-Jazira State arrive at a camp for the displaced in the eastern city of Gedaref on Nov. 2, 2024 (AFP)
People fleeing Sudan’s southern Al-Jazira State arrive at a camp for the displaced in the eastern city of Gedaref on Nov. 2, 2024 (AFP)
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More than 73 Sudanese Dead Due to Worsening Health Situation in Al-Jazira State

People fleeing Sudan’s southern Al-Jazira State arrive at a camp for the displaced in the eastern city of Gedaref on Nov. 2, 2024 (AFP)
People fleeing Sudan’s southern Al-Jazira State arrive at a camp for the displaced in the eastern city of Gedaref on Nov. 2, 2024 (AFP)

The Preliminary Committee of the Sudan Doctors Syndicate said on Wednesday that more than 73 people died in Al-Hilalia city and its neighboring areas in Al-Jazira State due to the worsening health situation.
“Eastern areas of Al-Jazira face a worsening humanitarian disaster, as a result of violent and ongoing attacks by the militia (Rapid Support Forces),” the committee said in a statement.
It said Al-Sabagh Rural Hospital, which is the basic facility for providing medical care to the displaced people, is receiving patients that largely exceed its capacity, and is also facing a critical shortage of medical staff, medicines and basic medical supplies.
The statement listed the dire conditions under which the displaced people in the New Halfa city are living. It said those people are sleeping in the open without shelter or blankets, and are lacking access to safe drinking water.
The committee therefore called on the regional and international community to “immediately intervene to stop this humanitarian tragedy.”
A wave of violence and armed attacks in Al-Jazira State since October 20, have led to the displacement of more than 135,000 people (27,000 families) to various locations in Sudan.
In April 2023, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces spread into a deadly civil war across Sudan, causing a hunger crisis with millions forced out of their homes.