The United States is exploring options to evacuate thousands of Iraqi civilians trapped on a mountain in northern Iraq by Islamic militants after four nights of humanitarian relief airdrops, officials in Washington said.
At least half of the 40,000 people besieged by jihadists on Mount Sinjar had escaped by Sunday night, aided by Kurdish rebels who crossed from Syria to rescue them.
But proposals for a mission to save the remaining thousands of Yazidi people underscore the limits of the airdrops, ordered last week by Barack Obama.
“We’re reviewing options for removing the remaining civilians off the mountain,” deputy US national security adviser Ben Rhodes told Reuters late on Sunday.
“Kurdish forces are helping, and we’re talking to the (United Nations) and other international partners about how to bring them to a safe space.”
The refugees, all members of the Yazidi sect, began streaming back into Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday after a perilous journey past Islamic State militants who had vowed to kill them and had surrounded their hideout on Mount Sinjar after storming the area.
The day-long trek took them first over a mountain range into Syria, then through the Peshkhabour crossing three hours north-west of Irbil, where Kurdish officials were rushing to provide food and shelter.
Categories: Americas, Arab World, Asia, Humanitarian crisis, Iraq, Kurds, Middle East, US Policy, US Politics
Of course it is wrong to say that the Quran is responsible for any genocide. The Quran clearly States that there is no compulsion in Religion.
The Holy Quran actually says that killing one innocent person, because of infinite value of human life, is like perpetrating a genocide: