Yazidis Return To Mountains On Rescue Mission

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

Tens of thousands of people from the ancient Yazidi community were left stranded on top of Mount Sinjar when Islamic State militants took over their towns and villages on August 2.

Among them was Azeez Hussein and his entire family.

They spent eight days on Mount Sinjar with little food or water until Azeez decided they were going to die on the mountain if they did not try to escape. 

Two days later he made it to Duhok in northern Iraq.

It took him and his wife over 20 hours of walking to flee, carrying their seven children, including their three-week-old baby girl.

Azzez Hussein is heading back to the mountain to find his parents

When we finally met him he was traumatised and kept saying he needed to go back.

His decision to leave with his children meant he could not take his elderly parents, who were still stuck on the mountain surrounded by the militants.

So we went with Azeez to the crossing point leading back to Sinjar. As we approached the bridge, we found hundreds of Yazidis queuing to get across.

Azeez's three-week-old daughter has had a traumatic start to her life

Azeez's cousins were at the front of the line, they had already been there for hours. They too were returning so they could try to bring back their parents.

All around us we heard tragic stories of loss and despair.

I asked one man why he was going back rather than waiting for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces or the Americans to rescue their families.

"Because our families will die waiting," he replied.

These Yazidis say they families would die if they waited for outside help

Another Yazidi man told us about how he saw Islamic State fighters abduct people in his village. He said they tried to convert him to Islam but he refused and escaped.

American and British representatives were also at the bridge crossing.

But Yazidis said they felt abandoned by the international community who are now indicating there is no need for a rescue mission.

"We are assessing the situation and seeing how much more we can help beyond what we have already provided," Richard Guera from the Department for International Development told us.

After five hours, the crossing finally opened. Azeez's cousins crossed the bridge but they have a difficult journey ahead.

They will need to drive through the mountains into Syria and then cross back into Iraq. From there, it is a seven-hour walk to the towns and villages where their families are trapped.

Despite the aid and arms pledged by the international community, it is being left to Yazidi fathers, brothers and sons to return to a place where they almost died escaping from, to save those nobody else will.

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Islamists 'Massacre' 80 Yazidis In Northern Iraq

Al Maliki's Successor Faces Old Problems

Updated: 6:29pm UK, Friday 15 August 2014

By Andrew Wilson, Sky News Presenter, in Irbil, Iraq

The disaster in the Sinjar mountains turns out to be less of a public relations nightmare for Western leaders than first feared.

A few thousand destitute Yazidi people don't carry anything like the clout of tens of thousands.

The UNHCR operators on the ground had figured this out days ago. Their job is numbers and they know that in a brutal world, the problem isn't Sinjar anymore, it's the displacement of those that were there and are now here looking for long-term shelter from the Kurdish Regional Government and maybe even homes in Europe and America.

So what about the spread of this Islamic caliphate across Northern Iraq and Syria?

Well, as far as its leaders-in-waiting are concerned, it's going pretty well.

It's ominous dark shade on the Middle Eastern map is now one colour from Aleppo to Diyala on Iraq's eastern border. 

And, to date, that progress has been largely unchallenged.

Reports of executions and crucifixions have played a part; even the Taliban back in 2001 could not generate the kind of terror that precedes Islamic State (IS) fighters wherever they go.

But IS are picking their enemies strategically as well.

Few tears were shed in Washington when the extremists turned on President Assad, and as for Baghdad, it took so long for the West to declare mission accomplished and pull out that going back in now would be unthinkably embarrassing.

Better to find another old friend to blame, this time the stubbornly sectarian Nouri al Maliki.

It is all his fault that disgruntled Sunnis allowed the IS to swoop down in their armed pickups and help themselves to all the American weapons lying abandoned in the sand.

If only he had built a more unified Iraq with loyal officers and disciplined troops, says the West, failing to mention 2003 when a cadre of professional Iraqi generals stood ready to deploy their well-trained forces for the post-Saddam rebuild only to be shunned by the American occupiers who knew better. 

So now the successor is embraced. Haider al Abadi seems a decent man, more of a consensus builder than a bully.

He is still a Shia, of course, same party as Mr Maliki, in fact, and you wouldn't want his job for all the gold in Saddam's palace.

He will need three phones; for Washington, Tehran and Brussels, and they will all be on his case to fix - in no particular order - the Islamic Caliphate; Sunni minority rights; an army that's just given all its weapons to the other side; Shia aspirations for a greater Iraq joined by holy sites to Iran and, of course, tens of thousands of displaced Yazidis.

It's difficult, if not suicidal, to be a consensus politician in the Middle East.

Think Sadat, Rabin, or even Mahmoud Abbas sitting quietly in Ramallah with "Israeli traitor" daubed on the walls near his house.

Sadly, in this part of the world, where the borders were drawn by foreigners a long time ago, the time-honoured formula, still espoused by Assad, Sisi, the Royal families of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is more simple: build a power base and crush your enemies.

Nouri al Maliki was on the way, but didn't make it.

And this time, no more boots on the ground.

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Russian Trucks 'Nearing Rebel-Held Ukraine'

A Russian convoy sent by Moscow towards eastern Ukraine as part of a supposedly humanitarian mission is heading for rebel-held territory, say Sky sources.

It is understood that the line of 262 white trucks is on its way towards Krasnodon, which is within the area controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

Ukraine has spoken of its concerns that the convoy will be used as a 'Trojan horse', allowing Russia to establish a permanent presence in the east of the country.

The Russain aid convoy has turned towards Luhansk

Russia had initially said it would be taking the convoy into eastern Ukraine with the co-operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

But by sending the convoy south, it appeared that trucks would not go into Ukraine through a government-controlled border checkpoint in the Kharkiv region, where it could be inspected by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross said it could not confirm what its involvement would be until it was known where the convoy would enter.

Igor Strelkov, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's top commander

Fighting has continued in and around rebel held areas in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukraine military announced it had completely surrounded the rebel held city of Luhansk, cutting it off from the Russian border.

Shortly afterwards, Russia's RIA news agency said that one of the principle architects of the eastern Ukrainian rebellion, Igor Strelkov, had resigned.

Ukrainian soldiers have recaptured towns in the east of the country

His resignation was the third change in the separatists' leadership in the past week.

Earlier, Valery Bolotov, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, announced he was standing down and on August 7, Aleksander Borodai, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's leader, said he was stepping aside.

The 'Donetsk People's Republic' said on its website that Vladimir Kononov would replace Mr Strelkov.

Buildings damaged by a recent shelling are seen in Donetsk

Meanwhile, the centre of Donetsk has been heavily shelled, according to witnesses.

The rebel-held city has been surrounded for several weeks by Ukrainian forces.

At least two people were killed when a town centre avenue and upmarket housing complex were hit by shellfire

Vladimir Putin says he wants to end the bloodshed

As well as the shelling in Donetsk, fighting has killed at least 22 residents in the besieged rebel-held bastion of Luhansk over the past 24 hours.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he wanted to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine.

During a visit to Crimea, Mr Putin also said that Russia should not "fence itself off from the outside world" despite a plunge in East-West relations.

Luhansk has been the scene of intense fighting

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has intensified in recent weeks, with UN officials saying there has been a spike in the number of deaths.

Some 2,086 people have died since the conflict began in mid-April, and more than half of them in the past fortnight, the UN said.

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Ebola Outbreak's Scale 'Vastly Underestimated'

The number of deaths and confirmed cases of ebola in west Africa has been vastly underestimated, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The death toll from the outbreak currently stands at 1,069 people. There have been 1,975 confirmed, probable or suspected cases.

The majority of the cases have occurred in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Four deaths have also been reported in Nigeria.

But WHO said there is evidence that the number of reported cases underestimates the scale of the suffering.

"The outbreak is expected to continue for some time. WHO's operational response plan extends over the next several months," the WHO said in a statement.

A convoy of UN soldiers passes a screen displaying an ebola message

"Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak."

It comes after several doses of the experimental drug ZMapp arrived in Liberia this week.

Officials say only three people will receive the drug, which could prove life-saving, ineffective or even harmful.

The Liberian government previously said two doctors would receive ZMapp, but it remains unclear who else will be treated.

The ebola outbreak was first identified in Guinea in March and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Nurses at a maternity hospital in Abidjan

The spread of the disease has overwhelmed strained health systems in west Africa.

As there is no licensed treatment for ebola - which is transmitted by contact with bodily fluids - doctors have turned to the limited supply of untested drugs to treat some cases.

Two Americans and one Spaniard have so far received ZMapp.

The American aid workers have since shown signs of improvement, although it remains unclear what role the drug has played in their recovery. The Spanish man - a priest - died within days.

As the human cost continues to rise, there are concerns about the wider economic threat caused by the outbreak.

The Moody's ratings agency warned on Thursday that the virus could have "significant economic" ramifications for a number of west African countries.

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Iraq: Yazidi Rescue Mission 'Far Less Likely'

'Parents Giving Thirsty Children Blood To Drink'

Updated: 6:07am UK, Thursday 14 August 2014

Parents cutting themselves so that thirsty children can drink their blood. Others dying from dehydration and being buried under rocks. These are some of the horrifying stories emerging from those who were trapped on a mountain by Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq.

Some 6,000 to 8,000 refugees have managed to escape to a makeshift camp in Dohuk province - but up to 30,000 still remain on Mount Sinjar in what a British aid worker has told Sky news is a "heartbreaking humanitarian crisis".

Sky's Sherine Tadros is at the Zakho camp, which has no electricity and just three or four toilets.

"They've told us harrowing stories," she said. "One man has just told us how he saw four children die of thirst. There was nowhere to bury them on the mountain so they just put rocks on their bodies.

"Another man was saying the children were so thirsty, their parents started cutting their own hands and giving them blood to drink.

"And then they make the perilous journey to these areas - sometimes 12 hours. And when they get here the conditions are pretty dire. There is no electricity, no aid agencies - this is just a makeshift camp."

Refugees in the camp - some of whom have gunshot wounds - are surviving on food and water being brought to them by locals.

The international community is starting to take action - but the situation is now unprecedented, according to an aid worker on the ground.

"There is still a big humanitarian crisis going on - what I saw was heartbreaking," British Kurd Taban Shoresh told Sky News.

"We need to do something to rescue those people - 30,000 people trapped on a mountain by IS in fear of extermination. There is no way out - the only way to get to them is by helicopter.

"They've got absolutely nothing, and I can't stress this enough. No food, no water. They're dehydrated. They've got no clothes, their shoes have been worn off. It is extremely hot and exposed to the sun.

"This is the first time in history where 30,000 people have been trapped on a mountain in fear of being killed - all the leaders need to come together and figure out the best way to rescue these people. We can't watch 30,000 people die."

Each helicopter sent with aid or to lift the most vulnerable prompts a "scramble".

"They are fighting to get on the helicopters and survive - it's their only way out," added Ms Shoresh.

The local mayor has donated 230 tents, Tadros said - but it is sparse shelter for the thousands lucky enough to escape Sinjar.

UNICEF is delivering water, protein biscuits and hygiene kits to refugees but, with one million people now displaced in Iraq, the organisation is struggling to cope.

Colin MacInnes, in Iraq, told Sky News: "We are doing all we can but it is not enough at this time."

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Gaza Conflict: Truce 'Extended By Five Days'

Israel has launched airstrikes over Gaza despite reports the 72-hour ceasefire has been extended for another five days.

Hamas confirmed it would continue to hold fire after a day of intense talks mediated by Egyptian intelligence.

Israel said earlier it was prepared to extend the ceasefire, which began on Sunday night.

However, within an hour of the extension being reported, Israel's military said it had struck "terror targets".

They claimed it was in response to five rockets being fired from Gaza - something Hamas denied.

Israel and the Palestinian territories

It is unclear where this leaves the ceasefire.

A potential extension would allow peace talks to continue in Egypt in search of a long-term solution to the conflict - though the Palestinian delegation has now left Cairo to consult with leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The delegation head, Azzam al Ahmad, said he hoped a final deal would be reached in the coming weeks, with Arab and international backing.

He said the ceasefire was meant to ensure a "positive atmosphere", while noting there had been "lots of progress" in the talks.

Mr al Ahmad added that Israel had conceded some ground - but not on the crucial point of ending the blockade of Gaza.

More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed in Gaza since July 8

Israeli demands for disarmament in Gaza were not discussed, he said.

Israel has yet to comment on the truce.

Despite the break in fire over recent days, an Italian journalist has been killed along with four others when an unexploded missile detonated in northern Gaza.

More than 1,950 Palestinians have been killed in five weeks of fighting in Gaza, with 67 dead on the Israeli side.

Meanwhile, an Israeli cabinet minister has accused the UK government of "encouraging" Hamas to re-start rocket fire from Gaza, following a decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel if fighting resumes.

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Video: Reporter Confronts Iraq ISIS Militants

UK Carries Out Second Aid Drop In North Iraq

Updated: 3:53pm UK, Tuesday 12 August 2014

The RAF has completed its second aid drop over Northern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

More than 3,000 reusable water containers holding 3,500 gallons of water and other "essential supplies" were dropped on Mount Sinjar.

Up to 40,000 Yazidis remain in the sweltering mountains after fleeing militants from the Islamic State (IS).

A previous attempt to drop supplies had to be abandoned for fear it could hurt those on the ground.

A "small number" of Tornado jets are also being sent to the region so they can be used, if required, to help ensure humanitarian supplies are delivered.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iraq's new Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi to form a new government quickly, following his appointment on Monday.

It had looked like his appointment could result in increased instability after the incumbent prime minister Nuri al Maliki refused to step down from the role he has had for eight years.

But reports from Iraq said many of Mr Maliki's previous supporters backed Mr Abadi's appointment and on Tuesday a senior Iranian official, the Arab League and Saudi Arabia also welcomed the move.

Meanwhile, Mr Maliki ordered Iraq's security forces to stay out of what he called a "political crisis", damping fears they may intervene.

The US has been calling on Baghdad to form an "inclusive" government for many weeks in order to counter the threat from IS, formerly known as ISIS.

Mr Kerry said of Mr Abadi, a former exile in the UK: "We are urging him to form a new cabinet as swiftly as possible and the US stands ready to support a new and inclusive Iraqi government and particularly its fight against (the Islamic State)."

Mr Kerry had been meeting with senior figures in the Australian government and said afterwards that the allies would take the threat posed by jihadist foreign fighters to the United Nations.

The UN move came after Australia's prime minister slammed a "barbaric" photo which apparently showed the seven-year-old son of a militant holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.

The European Union said it was increasing its aid to Iraq by 5m euros, bringing its total to 17m euros, in addition to the £13m in total provided by the UK.

The US's Centcom military information centre said it had carried out five aid drops on Mount Sinjar and a number of airstrikes on IS targets near the mountains.

France is planning a second aid drop into the mountains of Sinjar in the next two days.

The US has admitted that airstrikes against militants will not be enough to halt the advance of IS.

Joint staff operations director Lieutenant General William Mayville said: "We assess that US airstrikes in northern Iraq have slowed Islamic State (IS) … however, these strikes are unlikely to affect IS's overall capabilities or its operations in other areas."

But Mr Kerry also tried to allay US fears of being drawn back into another ground conflict in the area - 11 years after it launched a war in the country.

"There will be no reintroduction of American combat forces into Iraq. This is a fight that Iraqis need to join on behalf of Iraq," Mr Kerry added.

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Iraq Crisis: US Sends 130 More Military Advisers

The US has sent 130 more military advisers to northern Iraq to assess the scope of the humanitarian mission.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said: "I recommended to the President and the President has authorised me to go ahead and send about 130 new assessment team members up to northern Iraq in the Irbil area to take a closer look and give more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help."

The soldiers have been sent to northern Iraq to "develop additional humanitarian assistance options beyond the current airdrop effort in support of displaced Iraqi civilians trapped on Sinjar Mountain by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant".

Since June the US has sent about 700 military personnel to Iraq to protect diplomats there and take stock of the country's military capacity.

Western powers and international aid agencies are considering further help for the thousands of refugees driven from their homes by the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the Syrian border.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would consider requests for military and other assistance once Iraq's new prime minister-designate forms a government to unite the country.

Haider al Abadi has received support from the US and Iran as well as Sunni neighbours Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

However his Shi'ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside after eight years as premier.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint near Mr al Abadi's Baghdad home on Tuesday. There have been no reports of casualties.

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US Military: Airstrikes 'Won't Stop ISIS'

Clear Imperative For Iraq Humanitarian Mission

Updated: 6:01pm UK, Monday 11 August 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Mission creep. Boots-on-the-ground. Targeted airstrikes. Strictly humanitarian mission.

We've heard it all before and it's mostly bunkum.

But, this time, the baloney may have a half decent flavour because lurking in the background may, one might hope, be the flavour of a hard-headed strategic mission.

The latest use of airpower and some special forces troops on the ground is as legitimate as the 2003 invasion of Iraq was unjustified.

Then the allies were duped into attacking a country on a false premise - to rid Saddam Hussein's regime of weapons of mass destruction.

This time there is a clear moral imperative behind those "targeted airstrikes" and the "humanitarian mission".

Not least because the Islamic State, as it now calls itself, poses a clear and present danger to the region and the West.

The rapidity of the response from the US and Europe has been striking.

Within a week or less of the attacks on the Yazidi, Christians and other religious minorities Barak Obama ordered both a humanitarian air drop and his air force into action against IS.

Now the European Union is being pressed by France and Italy to urgently consider what support it can send to the Peshmerga forces of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq's north.

Part of the drive for this has been the galvanising effect of the IS's own propaganda.

Its grand guignol of blood-curdling real-life horror - the beheading of children, the alleged burying of Yazidis alive, the endless mobile phone footage of grinning fanatics slicing into the throats of young men held by their hair - has provoked cries of "enough!".

There have been demands that the British parliament be recalled to discuss the UK's role in the operations in Iraq.

Officially entirely "humanitarian" they now include Tornado jets and spy planes to provide intelligence to US special forces and the pershmerga on the ground.

Britain won't be putting troops in, there is no need and the needs, for now, are catered for by the US.

But this does not mean that "mission creep" can be avoided. Indeed some may argue that it is even desirable.

The Islamic State is a self-financing entity. It stole an estimated $400m from Mosul's central bank when it captured the city in June.

It has been selling oil from the fields it controls in Syria - much of it to the regime of Bashar al Assad that it largely avoided fighting as it has focussed on consolidating territory liberated in Syria by other groups.

It has a global Islamist agenda, much like al Qaeda. But its methods have been ruled too extreme by the al Qaeda leadership, notably Ayman al Zawahiri.

It now has many thousands of troops, plenty of captured weaponry, and money to enlist more support.

It is the dangerous new Islamist franchise, eclipsing al Qaeda with its media campaigns and its staggering land grab of a third of Syria and a third of Iraq.

More airstrikes and many more troops will be needed to rescue the Yazidis. Still more will be needed to contain the IS.

If the Yazidis and Christians are ever to return to their homes, then the IS will need to be removed.

That would require a broadened and deepened "humanitarian mission". One that many now believe would be desperately necessary.

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Death Toll From Ebola Outbreak Tops 1,000

The death toll from the ebola outbreak in West Africa has passed 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The health agency said some 1,013 people have died from the disease which has struck in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Residents in countries ravaged by the disease have been gripped by panic, with radical containment measures causing transport problems, price rises and shortages of food.

The rising death toll came as Liberia's presidency said the US has approved a request for sample doses of an experimental drug to be sent to Liberia.

Liberian soldiers check people travelling in Bomi County

The presidency announced that the ZMapp drug would be delivered to Liberia by a US government representative this week to treat doctors infected with the disease.

However, a spokesperson for the US Health and Human Services (HHS) Department said US authorities had simply helped connect the Liberian government with the drug's manufacturer.

Doctors in Spain have already imported ZMapp to treat a priest evacuated from Liberia after he tested positive for ebola.

ZMapp has been successfully tested on monkeys, but only recently used on humans. The drug is also being tested on two Americans infected with the disease.

A man washes his hands as a preventative measure in Abidjan, in Ivory Coast

The latest outbreak of ebola has killed around 55-60% of those infected with the disease.

But a British hygiene expert working with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has told Sky News the statistics do not reveal the true picture of how serious the situation is.

Cokie van der Velde, who has worked with MSF for 12 years, said: "What we need is more agencies to come forward working in these countries to reverse this epidemic.

"The numbers of dead and infected don't show the real situation. There are deaths in villages and all over [Liberia] which are not being recorded."

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Gaza Truce Holds After Death Toll Tops 2,000

A 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held overnight - paving the way for talks aimed at securing a lasting end to the month-long conflict.

The truce, which was agreed during negotiations between both sides in Cairo, began at midnight (10pm UK time).

Israel pledged to return to Cairo on Monday if the ceasefire was observed.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes the break will provide a "chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit of all civilian populations".

Israel and Hamas exhanged fire up to the deadline

Since the last truce broke on Friday, warplanes have reportedly hit more than 170 targets in Gaza, killing at least 19 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, militants fired at least 136 rockets at Israel. Some 93 hit, according to the army.

The death toll since Israel launched its military campaign on July 8 topped 2,000 on Sunday - 1,939 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.

The break in fire will allow Gazans to stock up on supplies and recover the dead buried beneath rubble.

Gazans inspect the damage after Israel's weekend bombardment

Preliminary reports say rebuilding Gaza will cost up to £4.8bn, according to the UN.

More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed and the livelihoods of 300,000 people ruined.

Almost a third of the population - 500,000 people - are displaced within Gaza.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said for the ceasefire to hold, Israel must end its blockade of the Gaza Strip and reopen the seaport.

10,000 homes have been destroyed since July 8

Israel's campaign has been aimed at destroying Hamas' infrastructure, including its network of tunnels.

Away from Gaza, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was apparently shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Mohammed Khalil al Anati was killed in Al Fawwar refugee camp, southwest of the city of Hebron, a medical official said.

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PM Urged To Strike Jihadists Amid Atrocities

David Cameron has come under pressure to recall Parliament and consider military action in Iraq amid reports of atrocities carried out by jihadists.

Calls to take action come as evidence emerged of Islamic State (IS) fighters burying women and children alive as they continue their bloody advance.

Meanwhile, Iraq was plunged into a deepening political crisis after its embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the new President of violating the constitution.

Nouri al-Maliki made a surprise speech, attacking the President

In a surprise speech, Mr al-Maliki resisted calls to resign amid the jihadist insurgency and declared he will file a legal complaint against Fouad Massoum.

He accuses him of failing to name a Prime Minister from the country's largest parliamentary faction by Sunday's deadline.

The political turmoil comes amid mounting evidence of the slaughter of minority Christians and Yazidis by Islamic extremists.

Photographs taken in the north of the country appear to show crucifixions and beheadings, as well as a series of executions by gunfire.

US soldiers watch as halal meals are parachuted to the ground in Iraq

Iraq's human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said accounts from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar suggested hundreds had been slaughtered.

"Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar," he said.

The newspaper, The Australian, also featured a photograph purporting to show the nine-year-old son of terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, carrying the head of a Syrian soldier.

The picture was apparently posted on Twitter by Sharrouf, a convicted terrorist, who was raised in Sydney.

Yazidi refugees approach the food bundles on the ground

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the photograph was further evidence of "just how barbaric" the militants were.

As the world watched the images from Iraq in horror, politicians and influential military figures pressed Mr Cameron to recall Parliament to discuss miltary action. 

Tory backbencher Conor Burns said the Government's response so far, of ruling out military intervention and air dropping supplies, was "not strong enough".

"These people are being beheaded by people from IS, and our only response is to drop some food or water on them," the Bournemouth West MP said.

Refugees flee the extremists carving a bloody path through northern Iraq

"I think the US and UK should be involved in airstrikes. I am not by any means advocating a ground war but I think we should put our special forces in there.

"I think we should be answering positively requests from the Kurds to arm them. I think we should be looking at asylum."

Mr Burns said he did not know whether the Commons would support military action, but it was "worth trying".

"If Parliament decides we do not want to have anything to do with that, then let them say so," he said.

David Cameron has been urged to recall Parliament

The former head of the army, Lord Dannatt, also backed a parliamentary recall, insisting Britain was "watching in horror" as atrocities were committed.

"In the face of a crisis of this scale, with the potential for so much human misery, this is not the moment for decision-makers to be on holiday," he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

Yesterday, Downing Street announced that more UK advisers were being sent to the under-threat city of Irbil to help deal with the developing crisis.

The US has been carrying out airstrikes to protect the area, which is a Kurdish stronghold and major centre for the country's oil trade.

Overnight, US military planes conducted a fourth air drop of food and water for civilians besieged by jihadists on Mount Sinjar.

A C-17 and three C-130 cargo aircraft dropped 88 bundles of supplies that will provide "food and water for thousands of Iraqi citizens".

The militants have driven as many as 150,000 Yazidis from their homes into the Sinjar mountains, where they are cut off from food and water.

The jihadists have also kidnapped 300 women as slaves.

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Gaza Ceasefire Talks On Brink Of Collapse

Peace talks aimed at ending the violence in Gaza are on the verge of collapsing.

A Palestinian delegation has threatened to walk out of the discussions in Cairo unless the Israelis return to the negotiating table without conditions today.             

"Within the next 24 hours, the delegation's presence in Egypt will be determined," said Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau.

Israel - whose delegation left Cairo after a 72-hour truce expired on Friday - has said it will not take part in talks while violence is ongoing.

Abu Marzouk says the Palestinian delegation is ready to walk away

The Palestinians blamed their decision to resume fire on Israel's refusal to end the blockade of Gaza and open a seaport.

Egyptian mediators have met separately with both sides at least three times this week.

Meanwhile, David Cameron and Barack Obama expressed "serious concern" about renewed hostilities in Gaza during a phone call on Saturday.

The leaders called on Israel to exercise "restraint".

A Downing Street spokesman said: "They agreed that Israel has a right to defend itself but it should do so in a way that exercises restraint and Israeli forces must take utmost care to avoid civilian casualties.

"Both agreed that the priority must be to re-establish a ceasefire that paves the way for negotiations on a more lasting peace that allows both Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety alongside one another."

A boy surrounded by rumble in a bombed out Gaza street

The Israelis launched more than 30 air attacks in Gaza on Saturday, killing nine Palestinians, while militants continued to fire rockets into Israel.

A month after Israel launched its military campaign, nearly 1,900 Palestinians have been killed - mostly civilians.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat, while three civilians have died from rocket fire into the country.

The UK, France and Germany issued a joint declaration on Saturday urging Hamas and Israel to agree an immediate ceasefire.

In London protesters called for an end to the Gazan "massacre" as they marched in Hyde Park.

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US Jets In More Iraq Strikes On Militants

American jet fighters and drones have conducted four more airstrikes on Islamic militants in Iraq - as British military aircraft headed to the region.

The US military said the strikes took out armoured carriers and a truck that were firing on civilians.

The third wave of attacks came as two C130s left RAF Brize Norton to make humanitarian airdrops in the troubled region.

Thousands of Yazidis have fled their homes

The planes will deliver humanitarian aid, including reusable filtration containers, tents, and solar lights which can also recharge mobile phones.

They aim to ease the suffering of thousands of refugees stranded on Mount Sinjar since fleeing Islamic State (IS) attacks on their homes a week ago.

The drops follow renewed airstrikes by US jets and drones, which took out at least five vehicles used by IS militants to fire on civilians.

The boundary shows the area IS wants to create as a caliphate

The jihadists have been sweeping through northern Iraq, beheading and crucifying captives who refuse to be converted to Islam.

They have driven thousands of Yazidi people from their homes, leaving them stranded in the mountains in northwest Iraq without food or water.

Reports suggested that thousands of refugees, including children, may have already lost their lives after being trapped in the mountains without food and water for days.

Overnight, US and Iraqi aircraft dropped food and water to the stranded refugees for a third time.

President Obama says the US offensive is a "long-term" project

US officials say aircraft delivered 72 bundles of supplies, including more than 3,800 gallons of water and more than 16,000 meals.

Barack Obama said he viewed the US offensive in Iraq as a "long-term project" to rout out militants and deliver aid to beleaguered civilians.

It is the first American offensive in Iraq since Washington pulled out its forces in 2011 after nearly a decade of brutal war.

He has also said US airstrikes aim to prevent IS fighters from attacking Irbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish region, where the US has a diplomatic mission.

British aid is loaded onto a plane destined for Iraq

"I'm not going to give a particular timetable, because as I've said from the start, wherever and whenever US personnel and facilities are threatened, it's my obligation, my responsibility as commander in chief, to make sure they are protected," Mr Obama told reporters.

Mr Obama, who has ruled out ground troops, and David Cameron have pledged to work together to avoid "genocide" in Iraq.

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