Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

AUSTRALIAN and US embassy staff in Baghdad are being evacuated as terror sweeps Iraq following the release of images showing captured troops being massacred.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says a number of embassy staff members have been withdrawn from Baghdad due to the deteriorating security situation.

Islamic militants have taken over a swathe of territory in northern Iraq in an offensive that has brought fighting to within 80km of the capital.

“The Australian embassy remains open with reduced staffing levels,’’ DFAT says in its latest travel advice.

“We are unlikely to be able to provide consular assistance in Iraq at the current time.’’

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says an “essential core’’ of embassy staff will remain in place but they will be limited in what they can do for the estimated 90-plus Australians in Iraq.

“Due to the very challenging security environment we are unlikely to be able to provide the level of consular assistance that might be expected,’’ she told ABC radio this morning.

NERVOUS US SHUFFLES BAGHDAD STAFF, TROOPS

The New York Times reports the US embassy is also preparing to evacuate “a substantial number” of its 5500 staff in the face of the relentless insurgent advance.

The $600 million, fortress-like embassy on the Tigris River is the heart of what used to be known as the Green Zone, a heavily fortified and defended compound in the heart of Baghdad.

A US State Department spokeswoman said in a statement that key staff will stay in place, but would not reveal how many will be pulled out.

“Overall, a substantial majority of the US Embassy presence in Iraq will remain in place and the embassy will be fully equipped to carry out its national security mission,” she said.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement that a “small number” of military personnel — believed to be 100 Marines and US Army troops — were being sent to help keep State Department facilities safe in Baghdad.

US civilian contractors employed in training Iraqi defence and police forces throughout the country have already been recalled to Baghdad or evacuated from the war-torn nation.

Meanwhile, the Islamic militant group that captured two major cities last week has posted graphic photos that appeared to show its fighters massacring dozens of captured Iraqi soldiers.

Murderous intent ... Islamic militants have released pictures online that appear to show them leading captured Iraqi troops and militia into fields to be executed. Source: AFP

The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie facedown in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot.

In all, ISIS claims to have executed 1700 Iraqi soldiers, police and militia members.

 

Killing fields ... This image posted on a militant website appears to show militants leading captured Iraqi soldiers wearing plain clothes to an open field moments before shooting them in Tikrit, Iraq. Source: AP

The grisly images could further sharpen sectarian tensions as hundreds of Shiites heed a call from their most revered spiritual leader to take up arms against the Sunni militants who have swept across the north. ISIS has vowed to take the battle to Baghdad and cities further south housing revered Shiite shrines.

Fresh forces ... An Iraqi soldier waves as trucks carrying volunteers to fight alongside the Iraqi security forces leave a recruitment centre in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Source: AFP

FALL OF TAL AFAR

Intense helicopter gunship strikes by Iraqi government forces did little to prevent the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from overrunning defenders in the northern town of Tal Afar today.

“The situation is disastrous in Tal Afar. There is crazy fighting and most families are trapped inside houses, they can’t leave town,” a local official told Reuters. “If the fighting continues, a mass killing among civilians could result.”

An Iraqi general has since confirmed Tal Afar has fallen.

However there are also unconfirmed reports that a major military base at Taji, about 35km north of Baghdad, has also fallen today.

The report comes as Al Arabiya News quotes insurgent tribal leaders declaring the attack on Baghdad had now begun.