US contractors stranded in Iraq under threat of imminent attack: ‘We are sitting ducks’

A fire burns outside the grounds of the US embassy headquarters in Baghdad's fortified ‘Green Zone’ on 17 March 2026 following a drone and rocket attack, according to security officials. Photograph: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of US contractors are stranded on a major military base near Baghdad, Iraq, with no evacuation plan, while local Iran-backed militants are possibly making plans to attack the base, three sources said.

The contractors are employed on the Martyr Brigadier General Ali Flaih air base, formerly Balad air base, to support the Iraqi government’s F-16 fighter jet program.