Washington, Sept 13 (ANI): Despite promises of not sending American military personnel into Libya, four US service members arrived on the ground in Tripoli over the weekend, it has emerged.
According to Pentagon reports, the four unidentified troops there are working under the State Department's chief of mission to assist in rebuilding the US Embassy.
"Two of the military personnel are explosive-ordnance experts who will be used to disable any explosives traps left in the embassy. The other two are 'general security," Fox News quoted Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby, as saying.
Kirby also stressed that these troops are not a part of a military operation on the ground, and they are armed just to protect themselves, if needed.
The troops are only expected to be there for a short while. After the assessment of the embassy is complete, they are expected to leave, he added.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also assured reporters that the four individuals are not in Libya to fight, the report said.
"When the president made his commitment to 'no boots on ground' obviously that had to do with entering into the fray between the Gaddafi forces and the Libyan freedom fighters, and that's not what these guys are engaged in," Nuland said.
President Barack Obama assured Americans in March that there would be no boots on the ground.
"The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya," he said that time. (ANI)
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