US drops more aid to fleeing iraqis
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THE United States yesterday launched a new airdrop to aid thousands of members of an Iraqi minority group who fled the advance of the Islamic State group, trying to stem a worsening humanitarian crisis in a country reeling from the extremist offensive.
The extremists have captured hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority, according to an Iraqi official, while thousands of other civilians fled in fear.
Those in jeopardy include thousands of members of the Yazidi whose plight — trapped on a mountaintop by the militants — prompted the US to airdrop crates of food and water to them.
“The thousands ... who fled to that mountain were starving and dying of thirst. The food and water we airdropped will help them survive,” US President Barack Obama said, before leaving for his summer vacation.
“I’ve also approved targeted American airstrikes to help Iraqi forces break the siege and rescue these families,” he said.
“When there’s a situation like the one on this mountain ... the United States can’t just look away,” he said.
Yazidis belong to an ancient religion seen by the Islamic State group as heretical. The group also sees Shiite Muslims as apostates, and has demanded Christians either convert to Islam or pay a special tax.
US planes conducted a second drop of food and water early yesterday for those trapped in the Sinjar mountains, said Pentagon chief spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby. Three planes dropped 72 bundles of supplies, including more than 28,000 meals and 1,500 gallons of water, he said.
For the US military, which withdrew its forces from Iraq in late 2011, the re-engagement began when two F/A-18 jets dropped bombs on a piece of artillery and the truck towing it. The Pentagon said the militants were using the artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, and home to a US consulate and US military trainers.
Later on Friday, the US launched a second round of airstrikes near Irbil, officials said. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said unmanned aircraft hit a mortar and four navy F/A-18 fighter jets destroyed a seven-vehicle convoy.
Expanding from their stronghold of Mosul, the militants have captured several towns and Iraq’s largest hydroelectric dam and reservoir in recent weeks. Ethnic and religious minorities, fearing persecution and slaughter, fled as their towns fell.
According to the United Nations, more than 500,000 people have been displaced by the violence in Iraq since June, bringing the total this year to more than 1 million.
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