TIKRIT, Iraq: US forces are preparing to evacuate hundreds of staff working for Lockheed Martin Corp. and Sallyport Global from an Iraqi military base where they work as contractors, three Iraqi military sources said on Friday.
Nearly 400 contractors from the two firms were getting ready to leave Balad military base, which hosts US forces some 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, over “potential security threats.” Their departure was imminent, the sources said.
The sources did not give any details about the security threats.
The sprawling Balad base was hit by three mortar shells last week. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
The US military informed Iraqi officials that they would begin evacuating about half of the 800 employees who work for both companies at Balad, said a military official with knowledge of the base’s daily operations.
The official said the evacuation would take about 10 days.
Two other military sources said the evacuation would take place in two stages and would be carried out by military aircraft.
“Americans informed us that they will only keep limited, necessary staff who work closely on the maintenance of Iraqi F-16 war planes.” Lockheed Martin began delivering the first F-16s to Iraq in 2014.
The sources said the evacuation could start at any moment.
Two other Iraqi bases hosting US forces have been hit by rockets in the past week in unclaimed attacks. On Wednesday, a rocket attack hit near a site used by US energy company Exxon Mobil near the southern city of Basra.
Local officials blamed Iran-backed Shiite militias for the Basra incident. Iran has not commented on the Iraq incidents but has strongly rejected accusations by Washington that it was behind several attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf in recent weeks.
The uptick in violence comes amid rising regional tension between the United States and Iran.
Washington has ramped up sanctions pressure on Tehran since last year and several violent incidents in the Gulf have been blamed on the rising tension.
President Donald Trump on Friday said he had called off a US strike on Iran at the last minute.
In Iraq, Iran backs several Shiite Muslim militias which have positions close to US military installations.
Those militias have not publicly commented on the recent incidents.
Sunni extremist group Islamic State is also trying to stage a comeback in Iraq and has mostly used hit-and-run insurgency tactics against Iraqi forces in recent months.
US forces prepare to evacuate contractors from Iraqi base
US forces prepare to evacuate contractors from Iraqi base
What we know about alleged strike on Iran school
- The New York Times has authenticated video uploaded by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News showing a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking a structure described as a clinic inside a Revolutionary Guards’ base next to the school
PARIS, France: A new investigation by the New York Times has shed more light on events surrounding a reported attack on a school in Iran at the start of the Middle East war.
Iran has accused Israel and the United States of conducting a strike on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab, which it said killed more than 150 people.
US President Donald Trump has blamed Iran, while the Pentagon has said it is investigating the incident.
AFP has been unable to access the location to independently verify the circumstances or the toll from any such incident.
Iranian authorities have to give explicit approval to foreign media organizations wishing to report outside Tehran.
- Tomahawk -
The New York Times has authenticated video uploaded by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News showing a US Tomahawk cruise missile striking a structure described as a clinic inside a Revolutionary Guards’ base next to the school.
According to the Times, in this war, the only military using Tomahawks is the United States.
The footage showed dust and smoke rising from the direction of the school, indicating at least one earlier explosion.
“A body of evidence assembled by The Times — including satellite imagery, social media posts and other verified videos — indicates that the SHajjarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred at the same time as attacks on the naval base,” the paper said.
US Central Command has released footage of Tomahawk launches filmed on February 28, the day Minab was hit, while senior US officers briefed that early salvoes included Navy Tomahawks across Iran’s southern flank.
The Times had previously reported that US military statements indicating forces were attacking naval targets near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where a Revolutionary Guards’ base is located, “suggest they were most likely to have carried out the strike.”
- Near strategic waterway -
Earlier footage filmed from a parking lot showed black smoke billowing from a damaged building adorned with murals featuring drawings of crayons, children and an apple.
AFP has geolocated the clip to a building in Minab, though it has not been able to independently verify the nature of the site.
AFP has confirmed the building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.
The Shahid Absalan clinic, under the supervision of the Guards navy’s medical command, lies 238 meters (780 feet) from the site, while the Seyed Al-Shohada IRGC cultural complex is 286 meters away.
AFP could not independently verify the date the footage from the car park was filmed.
- What Iran says -
Iran has said more than 150 people were killed in what President Masoud Pezeshkian described as US-Israeli strikes on the school.
According to state media, Iran held funerals for at least 165 people including students killed in the alleged attack.
State television carried images showing a large crowd of mourners weeping over what appeared to be bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
Other images released by state media showed individuals preparing coffins draped in the Iranian flag — some bearing photographs of children.
Another aerial image showed excavators digging out at least 100 graves at an unidentified mass burial site.
AFP has been unable to independently verify the date the images were taken or access the location to verify the circumstances surrounding the events.
- Trump blames Iran -
President Trump has blamed Iran.
“We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday.
On Monday, Trump said the United States was investigating the strike “right now.”
“Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report,” Trump said, adding he did not “know enough about” the strike while also suggesting Iran may have used a Tomahawk missile — a weapon it does not possess — to hit the school itself.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week said the United States would not intentionally target a school and said the Pentagon was investigating.
“The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” he told reporters.
US Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged the Pentagon to conduct an impartial probe into what happened.
- Israel not aware -
Israel’s military said it was not aware of any US or Israeli strike on a school.
“At this point not aware of an Israeli or an American strike there... We’re operating in an extremely accurate manner,” military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
- Human rights group -
Norway-based rights group Hengaw said the school was holding its morning session at the time of the reported attack and had about 170 students present.
