CHINA TOPIX

12/22/2024 10:40:54 pm

Make CT Your Homepage

US Begins Air Drops to Help Iraqi Refugees

Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence.

(Photo : REUTERS/Stringer )

U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration have been considering launching an airstrike against the Islamic militants in Northern Iraq and began sending humanitarian aid  to those who were besieged.

The U.S. Army coordinated with the Iraqi government regarding the airdrop of humanitarian aid to about 40,000 Iraqis under siege and a possible attack on the insurgents.

Like Us on Facebook

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) advanced through religious minority communities in northwestern Iraq going to Erbil, forcing the minority groups to flee their homes. In a report by CBS, the insurgents have trapped about 15,000 followers of the Yazidi religious group in the northern mountains and threatened to kill them unless they convert to Islam.

The Obama administration reportedly discussed steps to help the Yazidi who are suffering without provisions. A United States defense official said they met with several Baghdad and Erbil officials in managing the airdrop for the people in need, according to the Guardian.

In a report by the Wall Street Journal, Baghdad and the Kurdish government coordinated with the U.S. forces and they said they were able to deliver one at least one air drop of water to the trapped Yazidis.

Iraqi officials add that the air drop was only able to reach a small group out of all the religious minorities who fled their homes. The officials added that they are constantly working on how to get additional aid and assistance for those affected by the situation.

The U.S. air drop is the first American aerial mission since 2011, when troops were extracted from the country, the Star explained.

The Yazidi religion is related to Zoroastrianism, a religion that the militants' consider as "demonic."

ISIS has been given a demand on the Yazidis to convert in to Islam and pay a religious fee or be killed.

Iraq's largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, now resembles a ghost town after its residents abandoned their homes for fear for their lives, according to the Guardian.

"Those who have passports crossed the border, but thousands of people who don't are waiting at the other side," Reuters cited Sirnak's Silopi Mayor Seyfettin Aydemir saying.

Aydemir added that they are still discussing the situation with the lawmakers in the region.

Real Time Analytics