The US is evacuating a substantial number of its staff from its embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad this week as the Iraqi army is engaged in fighting with Takfiri militants loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL.
The US state department issued a statement on Sunday, saying it is both increasing the number of security personnel in Baghdad and relocating an unspecified number of its staff due to the “ongoing instability and violence in certain areas of Iraq”.
“Embassy Baghdad is reviewing its staffing requirements in consultation with the State Department. Some additional U.S. government security personnel will be added to the staff in Baghdad; other staff will be temporarily relocated – both to our Consulate Generals in Basra and Erbil and to the Iraq Support Unit in Amman.”
The statement from the department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, however, added that the embassy remains open and will continue working with Iraqi officials.
The US embassy in Iraq, located within Baghdad’s heavily-secured Green Zone, has the largest staff of any US Embassy.
The statement also advised Americans in Iraq “to exercise caution and limit travel to Anbar, Ninawa, Salah ad-Din, Diyala, and Kirkuk provinces.”
Washington has already evacuated many Americans from Iraq including members of private security companies that had been training the Iraqi military.
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