UN refugee agency to start aid operation for Iraqis

The United Nations refugee agency says it plans to start a large humanitarian aid operation in a bid to help the displaced people in Iraq.

The air, road and sea operation will begin on Wednesday with a four-day airlift from Aqaba in Jordan to Erbil in Iraq, said Adrian Edwards, the spokesman of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Tuesday.

He added that, in addition to the four-day airlift, road convoys of humanitarian aid will be sent from Turkey and Jordan over the next 10 days.

“The major focus is on improving living conditions for the displaced in the region, particularly people without shelter or housing,” Edwards said, adding, “Conditions remain desperate for those without access to suitable shelter, people struggling to find food and water to feed their families, and those without access to primary medical care.”

“Many are still coming to grips with the tragedy they’ve been through in recent weeks – fleeing homes with nothing, and many trying to cope with the loss of loved ones. Emergency support is an urgent need that we are trying to meet,” he said.

Iraq has faced brutal violence by the ISIL Takfiri group across the country’s north and west since early June. The crisis has deteriorated in recent weeks, as the militants swept over new towns in the north, forcing members of the minorities out of their homes.

The ISIL terrorists have been committing heinous crimes in the areas they took, including the mass execution of civilians as well as Iraqi army troops and officers.

The Iraqi army is engaged in fierce fighting with the ISIL militants to push them out of the captured areas.