The U.S. Embassy in Libya was evacuated Saturday because of the recent rise of violence in Tripoli, the nation's capital. The State Department confirmed that early Saturday morning 150 personnel with 80 U.S. Marines among them were removed from the city and taken across the border into Tunisia.

Operations have been "temporarily suspended" and will resume when "the security situation on the ground improves."

The embassy will operate from other locations while out of their offices, some in other U.S. embassies and others will return to Washington, according to a senior State Department official.

While plans to evacuate were supposedly in the works for several days, the final decision to act was made very recently as security continued to worsen as militia fighting grew.

The Pentagon press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said in a statement that there were surveillance and warplanes provided as security during the evacuation in the case of an attack.

"We are committed to supporting the Libyan people during this challenging time, and are currently exploring options for a permanent return to Tripoli as soon as the security situation on the ground improves," Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement. "In the interim, staff will operate from Washington and other posts in the region."

"Securing our facilities and ensuring the safety of our personnel are top Department priorities, and we did not make this decision lightly," Harf went on to say. "Security has to come first. Regrettably, we had to take this step because the location of our embassy is in very close proximity to intense fighting and ongoing violence between armed Libyan factions."

Fighting in the embassy and airport areas in Tripoli have also caused significant security concern. Eyewitnesses' accounts, reported by CNN, said that on Saturday morning there was "a lot of movement with fighter jets and helicopters."

According to U.S. officials, the Libyan government was made aware of the evacuation after the Americans were gone.