Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani seeks weapons to fight IS
"A humanitarian disaster of amazing proportions", says Telegraph journalist Jonathan Krohn on Mount Sinjar
The political leader of Iraq's Kurds, Massoud Barzani, has appealed for international military aid to help defeat Islamist militants.
The plea came as the US launched a fourth round of air strikes targeting Islamic State (IS) fighters near Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
IS, formerly known as Isis, has seized swathes of territory in northern Iraq.
Kurdish forces said they had regained control of two towns in Nineveh province after heavy fighting.
A Kurdish official said US air strikes on IS militants near the towns, Gwer and Makhmur, had helped.
It is the first time Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, have regained ground from IS since US military action was authorised on Thursday.
In western Iraq, minority groups, such as the Yazidis, have been forced from their home, prompting international aid drops.
Advanced weapons
Mr Barzani was speaking alongside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who was in Iraq for crisis talks with Iraqi and Kurdish officials.
"We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state," said Mr Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional government.
Kurdish regional leader Massoud Barzani vowed that his forces would prevail over IS fighters
"The weapons they possess are more advanced than what the Peshmerga have," he added.
"What we are asking our friends to do is to provide support and to co-operate with us in providing the necessary weapons that would enable us to defeat these terrorist groups," he said.
US strikes
On Sunday the US said it attacked five more IS targets near Irbil using fighter jets and drones.
At least three trucks were destroyed, it said, as well as a mortar position.
Earlier strikes targeted IS armoured vehicles near Mount Sinjar.
US President Barack Obama authorised the air strikes last week after members of the Yazidi sect were forced to flee the town of Sinjar into the surrounding mountains.
"People are doing what they can to offer aid", Times journalist Sara Williams who is eight kilometres from the IS frontline
If you compare the mood here today (Sunday) to the last few days, the atmosphere has grown a lot calmer. Shopping malls and restaurants are full of people again and there are a lot of weddings taking place. People are cheering every time there's news of another US air strike.
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
Before meeting Mr Barzani, Mr Fabius called for Iraq to form a unity government to win the "battle against terrorism".
Iraq's government has so far failed to defeat IS, in part due to political infighting.
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.
UK officials have estimated that between 50,000 and 150,000 people could be trapped there, facing starvation and dehydration.
At least 56 Yazidi children have already died, according to the United Nations.
Continue reading the main storyHumanitarian 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
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
Britain and France made their first humanitarian aid deliveries in northern Iraq on Sunday.
The air strikes have been the first direct US involvement in a military operation in Iraq since their withdrawal from the country in late 2011.
Iraq's minorities
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Christians
- 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
Yazidis
- 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 BBC
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