President Obama is considering airstrikes or airdrops in Iraq to help thousands of Iraqis who are currently trapped on a barren mountaintop, Reuters reports. The group of Iraqis is trapped by militants in the extremist group the Islamic State who are waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain.
According to Reuters, between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians are trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing their villages because of advancing Islamic State militants. Those trapped are rapidly running out of water and food.
“There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads. There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded. It’s a disaster, a total disaster,” said a UN official.
Militants from the Islamic State took control of multiple Iraqi cities in June and have vowed to seize Baghdad.
