Barely six months after the last Australian troops pulled out of Iraq, a small contingent of Aussies is going back to protect the embassy.  This, as a force of thousands of Sunni militants have taken control of much of the north and are threatening to move on the capital Baghdad.

Published reports say that six members of the Australian Defence Force will protect the embassy staff.  That’s a far cry from the peak of 2,000 soldiers in Iraq.

The Australian Embassy is already located in the “Green Zone”, supposedly the safest in Iraq.  It’s currently guarded by private contractors with a Dubai-based firm.  But if things get too hairy, they will shelter in the US Embassy compound, the largest and most heavily fortified in the world.  The US has already sent 250 of its troops to guard that compound.

Meanwhile, the Sunni Muslim militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group are still fighting for control of the important Baiji oil refinery, Iraq’s largest gasoline plant.  Government troops are holding on, though ISIS has been able to fly its black flag in the areas it controls.