MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – The United Kingdom will help deliver humanitarian aid to the Yazidi people trapped in the mountains of northern Iraq following an Islamic State (IS) offensive, the country’s Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the press Friday.
“We are offering aid of our own which we hope to drop over the next couple of days in support of the American relief effort, particularly to help the plight of those who are trapped on the mountain,” the top British defense official said after a COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room) meeting.
Fallon added that the deliveries of food, water and essentials are planned to begin “in the next couple of days”.
Earlier on Friday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron supported the US President Barack Obama’s move to sanction limited military action against the Sunni Radicals in Iraq.
“I welcome President Obama’s decision to accept the Iraqi government’s request for help and to conduct targeted US air strikes, if necessary, to help Iraqi forces as they fight back against ISIL [Islamic State] terrorists to free the civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar,” Cameron said in a statement.
Since the beginning of August the Islamic State radical insurgent group seized another three towns in northern Iraq that were largely populated by the Yazidi ethnic minority. The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq reported Thursday that thousands of Yazidis are currently hiding in the mountains, cut off by the militants, lacking food, water and other essentials.
