TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States' Department of Defense said American airstrikes and the advances made by Kurdish fighters have ended the siege at Sinjar mountains, where Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces - also known as Islamic State (IS) - are believed to have retreated to. Pentagon has confirmed there was no need for a special operation to evacuate thousands of Yazidi and Christian refugees trapped in the mountainous region in northern Iraq.
Pentagon’s press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the conclusion came after the US forces were flown to observe the conditions of refugees in the mountains, adding that according to an evaluation of the situation, the need for an evacuation mission is smaller than previously anticipated.
Kirby said there were around 10,000 refugees in the area. Some have managed to seek refuge in the Kurdish region between Syria and Turkey. The remaining Yazidis in the region are faring much better than we previously thought. They have access to supplies including food and water, which we had air-dropped in the area, Kirby added.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has previously stated that around 20,000-30,000 civilians - mostly Yazidis - are trapped in the mountainous region. The UN have placed the humanitarian crisis in Iraq under a 'Level 3 Emergency' alert.
Apart from the remaining refugees in Sinjar, around 400 people have fled to Dahuk, a province in Kurdistan. Around 1.5 million people are now classified as refugees after ISIS took over the city of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq last June.
A number of European nations such as United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands have expressed willingness to send in reinforcements and supplies. The UK-based Daily Telegraph has reported that UK’s Special Air Service (SAS) special forces have actually been in Iraq in the last six weeks, working alongside US troops gathering intelligence on the ground.
UK PM David Cameron has refused to comment. "Our plans have got to be flexible enough to help those people, working with allies like the Kurds to make sure we can help people in need. This is a complicated humanitarian mission. One of the things we are definitely going to need to do is to get more aid into the refugee camps, like the camp at Dohuk."
ISIS fighters clashed with Iraqi forces in Fallujah, about 65 kilometers west of Baghdad yesterday, killing a woman, four children, and 10 militias. The city has been under ISIS control since January.
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