VIDEO A team of about 50 Marines has been dispatched to Libya after attacks Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi left four Americans dead including the U.S. ambassador, military officials told Fox News.
Officials said a Marine "fast team" is being sent from the U.S. Naval base in Rota, Spain. They are not yet on the ground.
One official said the State Department has not yet decided whether to send the unit to Tripoli or Benghazi, and whether to use them. There have been requests, though, from the department for military planes to be used for possible evacuation of personnel and/or the wounded. Those requests are in the pipeline, but no final decision has been made as to how many planes to send.
The move comes after President Obama ordered "all necessary resources" provided to Libya to support the security of U.S. personnel in the country.
In a statement, Obama also said he's directed his administration to "increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe."
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other American staff members were killed in the attacks Tuesday.
U.S. posts are on alert amid protests, so far in Libya and Egypt, over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
A senior military official clarified Wednesday that despite some reports, no Marines were killed in the Tuesday attack.
