Originally published on December 25, 2013

The U.S. has sent a special unit of Marines to Djibouti and Uganda to assist with the evacuation of U.S. citizens from South Sudan and provide security for the U.S. Embassy there.

According to reports, on Monday the Pentagon deployed roughly 150 Marines along with cargo planes and helicopters from Moron, Spain, to the Navy's Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, a major U.S. military base.

On Tuesday, 50 of those Marines were deployed along with a C-130 aircraft to Uganda, which shares a border with South Sudan.

According to CNN, U.S. Marines are poised to enter South Sudan if and when they are ordered to do so.

The deployment of Marines to Djibouti follows an aborted attempt to evacuate U.S. citizens from the South Sudan city of Bor on Saturday, during which an American aircraft came under fire from the ground and five U.S. troops were wounded.

One of the injured "went through some pretty serious surgery" after being taken to Nairobi, Kenya with wounds from gunshots fired at the aircraft, CNN reported.

U.S. citizens and other foreigners were evacuated from the same area a day later, according to Reuters.

It is unclear how many Americans and other foreigners remain in the country.

South Sudan has seen an outbreak of violence since December 15 that has left thousands dead.

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