Iraqi MoD Releases Footage of Air Drop in Sinjar

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense released footage of unidentified C-130 Hercules planes dropping aid to refugees in the Sinjar region on August 9. The video also shows military officials securing the roads surrounding the city of Samarra and down to the area of Awja, south of Tikrit.

Upwards of 150,000 Yazidi Kurds remain trapped on Sinjar Mountain, having fled after Islamic State militants seized the town of Sinjar on August 2. Local reports say that more than 60 people of the Yazidis faith have died on the mountain a result of dehydration and starvation.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis, including Arabs, Christians and minority Yazidis, Shabak, Shia Turkmen and others, have sought refuge in the mountains since armed IS militants (formerly ISIS or ISIL) took over Sinjar, according to Kurdish officials.

The United Nations and European Union have both expressed concern about the situation in Sinjar and other parts of Nineveh province, with the UN calling it a “humanitarian disaster.” Credit: Iraqi MOD