White House: We are considering sending Special Operations Forces

ISIS seizes Tal Afar, causing further concern for the stability of Iraq.

Eleven years after the invasion of Iraq, the militant group known as ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – continues to push further toward Baghdad, causing U.S. and Iranian officials concern over the nation’s stability.

President Barack Obama notified Congress on Monday that two hundred and seventy-five U.S. military personnel are being deployed to Iraq to protect the U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

“This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” said President Obama in a statement. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.”

ISIS seized control of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, last week and continued to make territorial gains on Monday, seizing Tal Afar. This comes after ISIS claimed to have massacred some 1,700 Shiites, a report that has not yet been confirmed.

“The claim by [ISIS]…is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that these terrorists represent. While we cannot confirm these reports, one of the primary goals of ISIS is to set fear into the hearts of all Iraqis and drive sectarian division among its people,” said a statement by from the U.S. State Department following the reports. “Terrorists who can commit such heinous acts are a shared enemy of the United States, Iraq, and the international community. “

In a statement on Friday, President Obama emphasized that the U.S. would not intervene militarily in Iraq and was exploring other options; however, NPR reports that both the USS George H. W. Bush and the USS Mesa Verde have been deployed to the Persian Gulf should the support be needed.

A senior White House official spoke to ABC News on Monday, stating that U.S. Special Operations Forces could potentially be sent to Iraq as advisors to aid in the Iraqi resistance to the ISIS onslaught.

“The key point is that it’s one of many options and these would not be combat troops, but additional advisors,” said the official in a statement to ABC News.