WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2021) Lockheed Martin is pulling out F-16 maintenance contractors from Balad air base in Iraq due to instability in the region, company Vice President for Communications Joseph LaMarca said in a statement.
"In coordination with the US government and with employee safety as our top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating our Iraq-based F-16 team," LaMarca said on Monday.
Lockheed Martin did not disclose the number of contractors that would be withdrawn from Iraq.
The New York Times reported, citing an Iraq security official, that Lockheed Martin has 70 employees at Balad air base and 50 would return to the United States while about 20 would be moved to Erbil.
On Saturday, Ain Al-Asad Air Base, which hosts US troops in western Iraq, was attacked by a drone. No coalition forces were injured in the attack.
Earlier last week, the US-led coalition said that two rockets had landed at the air base, with no casualties or material losses reported.
