US soldiers protect embassy in South Sudan’s emptying capital

United States President Barack Obama has ordered a military contingent of about 45 soldiers to deploy to South Sudan equipped for combat. Obama writes in a letter to the Congress that their purpose is to protect US citizens and property and that they would remain in South Sudan until the security situation there improved. “South Sudan stands at the precipice,” Obama writes. “Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past.” The soldiers would reinforce the existing contingent of US Marines already at the Embassy in Juba, which were only a handful in number before the latest crisis. Meanwhile, Juba’s airport remains crowded as evacuation flights continue this morning. Embassies including those of the US and the Netherlands have flights this morning to take their diplomats and citizens from the country. Witnesses at the airport yesterday also reported that the majority of passengers in the departure lounge were not expatriates but South Sudanese with foreign passports. Exodus from Juba drives price of bus tickets up Bus tickets from Juba to the Ugandan capital of Kampala have tripled in price in the wake of three days of clashes that began Sunday night. Calm has gradually returned to the city after the clashes, with people returning to the streets and markets once again open. But many thousands are resolved on leaving the city, South Sudanese and foreigners alike. At least eight full buses left the city yesterday, though traffic is still constrained by fears of insecurity. Passengers and bus operators in Gumbo area near the bridge over the Nile said yesterday that bus tickets to Kampala were being sold at 300 SSP, a threefold increase over the previous normal rate of 100 SSP. Salva Kiir: ‘Exodus is normal for this time of year’ At a press conference yesterday, South Sudan President Salva Kiir tried to downplay the significance of the mass exodus of foreigners, explaining that it was normal for many expatriates to leave the country at this time of year. “It is Christmas time. And everybody has the right, all the foreigners, to go back to their countries for their Christmas, and come back. Not because of the conflict in Juba,” he said.  Photo: US Marine Corps security guard in Tripoli, Libya (Marine Corps)