By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 1 September 2014:
Reports circulating on social media today claimed that the United States Embassy in Libya had . . .[restrict]been stormed, but it is actually the embassy’s residential complex, located about a kilometre away, that has been taken over by Libya Dawn forces.
A video surfaced on YouTube showing a crowd of Libyan men around a swimming pool in the compound. Several of them took turns diving from a second -storey balcony into the pool.
According to Libya Dawn forces, they have “secured” the compound and are safeguarding it from looting.
Though no official statement has been released by the US State Department, US Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones tweeted in response to inquiries on Twitter, “The YouTube appears to be a residential annex of the US mission but cannot say definitively since not there.”
“To my knowledge & per recent photos the US Embassy Tripoli chancery & compound is now being safeguarded and has not been ransacked,” the ambassador also tweeted.
The US State Department pulled its staff from Tripoli on 26 July as clashes in the city grew more intense. The embassy is located near Airport Road, which witnessed the heaviest on-going fighting in July. [/restrict]
