TIME World Iraq

U.S. Contractors Are Evacuating Iraq Amid Growing Turmoil

IRAQ-UNREST-MOSUL
Safin Hamed—AFP/Getty Images A jacket belonging to an Iraqi Army uniform lies on the ground in front of the remains of a burnt out Iraqi army vehicle close to the Kukjali Iraqi Army checkpoint, some 10km east of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq on June 11, 2014.

Embassy officials are staying put for the time being. Meanwhile Washington is "considering requests" from the beleaguered Iraqi government, which has asked for U.S. airstrikes.

U.S. citizens working for military contractors in Iraq are being evacuated from the country as the security situation worsens with Islamist militants descending on Baghdad.

“We can confirm that U.S. citizens, under contract to the Government of Iraq, in support of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in Iraq, are being temporarily relocated by their companies due to security concerns in the area,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement Thursday.

Lockheed Martin confirmed to TIME its employees are evacuating the country.

“For their safety and security, a small cadre of LM employees is evacuating Balad [Airbase] as part of the overall U.S. evacuation efforts. We are fully aware of the unfolding situation in Iraq and are working closely with the U.S. government to ensure the safety and protection of all of our employees,” a spokesperson said. “All Lockheed Martin employees are safe and secure at this time.”

Diplomatic officials will remain in the country for the moment. “The status of the staffing at the U.S. Embassy and Consulates has not changed,” Psaki said.

The security situation in Iraq has been deteriorating rapidly, with Islamist Sunni militants waging a successful campaign for control of key cities, including the second-largest city and the largest oil refinery in the country. The Iraqi government has asked the Obama administration to provide military aid in the form of airstrikes — something Obama says he has not taken off the table.

“We are actively considering requests from the Iraqi government and looking very closely at other efforts we can undertake to assist Iraq in this very serious situation,” White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters Thursday. He added: “We are not contemplating ground troops. I want to be clear about that.”

Psaki did not offer further details on the number of contractors or embassy officials in the country. According to a Pentagon report, in January 2014 there were 820 American contractors (out of 3,234 in total) working with the Department of Defense in Iraq.

Turmoil in Iraq as Extremist Militants Make Gains

Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces take their positions during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria (ISIS) in the city of Ramadi, June 19. A satellite image shows smoke rising from the Baiji refinery near Tikrit, Iraq, June 18. Al-Qaeda inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Baiji refinery some 155 miles north of Baghdad, June 19. Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr march during a military-style training in the holy city of Najaf, June 17. Newly-recruited Iraqi volunteers, wearing police forces uniforms, take part in a training session on June 17 in the central Shiite city of Karbala. Personnel from the Kurdish security forces detain a man suspected of being a militant belonging to the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the outskirts of Kirkuk June 16. Shiite tribal fighters raise their weapons and chant slogans against the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Basra, June 16. Demonstrators chant pro-al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, June 16. Iraqi security forces fire artillery during clashes with Sunni militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Jurf al-Sakhar June 14. An Iraqi security forces member with his weapon takes position as people, who fled from the violence in Mosul, arrive in their vehicles at a camp for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region June 14. People hold posters showing Iran's spiritual leaders Ayatollah Khomeini, while Iraqi Shiite fighters deploy with their weapons in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 southeast of Baghdad, June 14. Iraqi Shiite men, some of them wearing military fatigues and guns given by the government, raise their weapons as they gather in the Iraqi town of Jdaideh in the Diyala province on June 14, to show their support for the call to arms by Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Iraqi men board military trucks to join the Iraqi army at the main recruiting center in Baghdad on June 14, after authorities urged Iraqis to help battle insurgents. Peshmerga military direct traffic at a Kurdish check point on June 14, in Kalak. Traffic from Mosul queues at a Kurdish Check point on June 14,in Kalak. Iraqi women gather at a temporary camp set up to shelter civilians fleeing violence in northern Nineveh province in Aski Kalak, 25 miles west of Erbil, on June 13. Iraqi children carry water to their tent at a temporary displacement camp set up next to a Kurdish checkpoint on June 13 in Kalak. A Shiite man cleans weapons as he gets ready to defend his Sadr City district in case of an attack by Sunni extremists, on June 13 in Baghdad. An Iraqi soldier bodychecks men as they arrive to volunteer to join the fight against a major offensive by jihadists in northern Iraq on June 13, 2014, at recruiting center in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi policemen dig trenches at checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Taji, at the entrance of Baghdad, on June 13, 2014, as security forces are bolstering defenses in the capital. Men chant slogans against the al-Qaida breakaway group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), outside of the main army recruiting center to volunteer for military service in Baghdad, June 12, 2014. An Iraq army vehicle is seen burned by militants in Mosul, on June 12, 2014. Refugees fleeing from Mosul head to the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region in Erbil, north of Baghdad, June 12, 2014. Families fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul arrive at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region June 12, 2014. Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) stand guard at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 11, 2014. Civilian children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern Iraq city of Mosul
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