New Delhi. According to west media latest update on Iraq crisis and ISIS is as follows-
Last week, the United States launched an air campaign to break the siege of Mount Sinjar, bring humanitarian relief to the Yazidis and support Kurdish troops protecting their capital Arbil.
Washington has ruled out sending U.S. combat troops to the country, as has Britain, which has increased its support efforts and missions to supply humanitarian aid to refugees.
The US has said any evacuation mission on a mountain in northern Iraq besieged by Islamic State extremists is now "less likely" after its assessment that there are "far fewer" members of the Yazidis minority group than previously feared.
The Pentagon made this statement after a team of US military personnel, accompanied by USAID, yesterday conducted an assessment of the situation at Mt Sinjar and the impact of US military actions to date.
"The team, which consisted of less than twenty personnel, did not engage in combat operations and all personnel have returned safely to Erbil by military air," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said.
The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing "monster" that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group has been helping Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fight a Sunni Islamist-dominated insurgency, said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could easily recruit in other areas where its hard-line ideology exists.
"Wherever there are followers of the ideology there is ground for (ISIS), and this exists in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, and the Gulf states," Nasrallah said in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published on Friday.
"This danger does not recognise Shiites, Sunnis, Muslims, Christians or Druze or Yazidis or Arabs or Kurds. This monster is growing and getting bigger," said Nasrallah.
Nasrallah reiterated his defence of Hezbollah's role in the Syrian conflict, the focus of criticism from Lebanese opponents who say the group has provoked Sunni militant attacks in Lebanon.
France to deliver arms
French President Francois Hollande announced on Wednesday announced that his country will deliver weapons to Kurdish forces fighting ISIS extremists.
“In order to respond to the urgent need expressed by the Kurdistan regional authorities, the president has decided, in agreement with Baghdad, to deliver arms in the coming hours,” Hollande’s office said in a statement.
“France intends to play an active role by providing, along with its partners and in liaison with the new Iraqi authorities, all the assistance required,” the statement added.
Hollande reiterated France’s support for Iraq’s premier designate Abadi and urged a “unity government, representing all Iraqis to fight effectively against Islamic State.”
The urgency of Iraq has made British Prime Minister David Cameron to cut short his holiday to return to Britain to chair a meeting to discuss the Iraq crisis after some politicians and military commentators urged him to intervene there militarily.
Pope calls on U.N.
Pope Francis has also called on the international community and the United Nations in particular to do all they can to stop the “systematic violence” against ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq.
In a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made public on Wednesday, the pope said he was issuing an “urgent appeal to the international community to end the humanitarian tragedy now under way.”
Australia to join humanitarian airdrops
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed his country will join humanitarian airdrops in Iraq and did not rule out the possibility of greater military involvement.
Abbott, speaking in London after security talks, said Canberra was in discussions with international partners on how to protect displaced Iraqi civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar by jihadist Islamic State militants.
"Australian aircraft will shortly be joining the humanitarian airlift and airdrop to the Mount Sinjar region and we are consulting with our partners including the United States, including the United Kingdom, about what further assistance Australia can give," he said.
