Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Islamic State of Iraq and Levant has approached a U.S. Marine Corp training base in Iraq.

Officials acknowledged that ISIL fighters were advancing toward the Assad air base in the Iraqi province of Anbar, Middle East Newsline reported. They said hundreds of Marines were at Assad and training Iraq Army’s 7th Division.

“There is a threat, but it’s not immediate,” an official said.

The threat to the reported 320 U.S. military personnel and defense contractors at Assad was heightened as ISIL captured Al Baghdadi, some eight kilometers from the air base.

The U.S. military has cited “heavy fighting” at Al Baghdadi but said the Iraqi air base to the west was not under attack.

“There were reports of ineffective indirect fire in the vicinity,” Defense Department spokeswoman Elissa Smith said on Feb. 12.

In June 2014, the U.S. military evacuated the Assad air base after ISIL came within two kilometers of the air base. The air base had been slated to receive the first of 26 F-16 Block 52 multi-role fighters ordered by the Baghdad government.

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