LONDON/HOUSTON Aug 7 (Reuters) - Exxonmobil Corp is evacuating staff from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region as the radical militants of the Islamic State advance towards its capital, an industry source said on Thursday.

Islamist militants have surged across northern Iraq and pushed to within little over 30 minutes drive of the Kurdish regional capital Arbil, sending tens of thousands of people fleeing.

A spokesman for Exxon in Houston said the company does not comment on security matters. (Reporting by David Sheppard in London and Anna Driver in Houston)