UN to open humanitarian corridor to evacuate Iraqi civilians
On August 9, the United Nations Special Envoy to Iraq, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, said that the United Nations is urgently preparing to open a humanitarian corridor in northern Iraq to allow civilians to evacuate from the war zone..
The announcement was made after the US began airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets near Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The White House said US President Barack Obama has not set a "specific end date" for US airstrikes in Iraq, which will depend on the security situation in the Middle Eastern country. The Pentagon said on the night of August 8, US military aircraft dropped humanitarian aid to Iraqi people in areas threatened by IS militants.
On August 9, a British government source said the country is considering the possibility of joining the US airstrikes in Iraq against extremist Islamic forces, to prevent the risk of the conflict escalating into a genocide. Earlier, at a meeting of the Emergency Committee (COBRA), British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon announced an 8 million pound (nearly 14 million USD) emergency aid package for Iraqi people displaced by violence. On the same day, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced his support for the US bombing of the Islamic State (IS) insurgents in northern Iraq, as this is the only way at the moment to stop the advance of this extremist force.
According to HNMO
