The latest US strikes have targeted Islamist
militants terrorising members of the Yazidi religious minority, as Alpa
Patel reports
Iraq
needs a "broad unity government" if it is to combat Islamist militants
who have seized swathes of territory and are threatening minorities,
says French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
He is in Iraq for crisis talks on the rapid advance of Islamic State (IS).His visit comes after the US launched a third round of air strikes targeting IS fighters who have trapped members of the Yazidi sect on Mount Sinjar.
The US, France and the UK have begun delivering aid supplies to the Yazidis.
The Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, speaking alongside Mr Fabius, asked the international community to provide the Kurds with weapons to help fight IS militants.
"We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state," Mr Barzani said.
Thousands of members of the religious minority community fled to the mountains after IS (formerly known as Isis) overran the town of Sinjar last week.
The Sunni militant group has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, declaring a "caliphate", or Islamic state, in the region.
US President Barack Obama authorised the air strikes last week to halt the insurgency, which analysts say poses a serious threat to the stability of the Middle East.
The strikes are providing some sort of reassurance to residents here in that they are not alone in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) fighters. The raids are also likely to boost the morale of Kurdish forces who feel that with the right support and military back-up, they could win back the areas they have lost in recent weeks.
But a certain fear continues to linger in Irbil, a hub for diplomats and international oil firms which lies only 40km (25 miles) from the IS frontline. It's difficult for people to not know how real the threat to the city is.
Britain delivered its first humanitarian aid to the civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar on Sunday
Displaced members of the Yazidi community seek shelter at a camp near the Iraq-Syria border
Politicians have been unable to form a government since April's parliamentary elections, which were won by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his State of Law Coalition.
"Iraq is in need of a broad unity government, and all Iraqis should feel that they are represented in this government and... in this battle against terrorism," said Mr Fabius, who arrived in the capital Baghdad on Sunday morning.
During his visit, he will also travel to the Kurdish city of Irbil, which is being threatened by the jihadists.
UK officials have estimated that between 50,000 and 150,000 people could be trapped, facing starvation and dehydration.
At least 56 Yazidi children have already died, according to the United Nations.
"People are doing what they can to offer aid," reports Times journalist Sara Williams who is 8km (5 miles) from the IS frontline
Humanitarian aid drops
50,000
people trapped on Mount Sinjar surrounded by Islamic miitants-
216 aid bundles dropped by US aircraft to provide:
-
52,352 ready-to eat meals
-
10,622 gallons of fresh water
-
500 solar lanterns dropped by RAF can recharge mobile phones
USAF
Britain and France made their first
humanitarian aid deliveries in northern Iraq on Sunday, while the US
delivered its third air-drop of food and water to the refugees on Mount
Sinjar the previous night.
A Syrian official told AP news agency that more than 20,000 starving Yazidis had fled across the border.He said columns of refugees were running a gauntlet of gunfire through a tenuous "safe passage" being defended by troops of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, have been struggling to stop the advance of Islamic State
IS has published pictures purportedly showing its fighters on Mosul dam
But their resistance has been weakening and IS has seized a number of important northern towns, including Qaraqosh, commonly referred to as Iraq's Christian capital.
The militants have also captured Mosul dam - the country's largest - where they have hoisted their black flags and are patrolling its perimeter.
On Saturday, President Obama warned it was "going to take some time" to help Iraqis overcome the jihadist-led rebellion and stabilise their country.
It is the first time US forces have been directly involved in a military operation in Iraq since they withdrew from the country in late 2011.
- The majority are Chaldeans, part of the Catholic Church
- Numbers have fallen from around 1.5 million since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 350,000-450,000
- In Nineveh province, they live mainly in towns such as Qaraqosh (also known as Baghdida), Bartella, al-Hamdaniya and Tel Kef
- Secretive group whose origins and ethnicity are subject to continuing debate
- Religion incorporates elements of many faiths, including Zoroastrianism
- Many Muslims and other groups view Yazidis as devil worshippers
- There are estimated to be around 500,000 Yazidis worldwide, most living in Iraq's Nineveh plains
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