US continues humanitarian air drops in Iraq

Washington, Aug 10: The US military has conducted a third air drop of food and water supplies for thousands of Iraqi people threatened by Islamic State (IS) militants, authorities said.

"This air drop was conducted from multiple air bases within the US Central Command area of responsibility and included one C-17 and two C-130 cargo aircraft that together dropped a total of 72 bundles of supplies," Xinhua cited from a statement by the US Central Command Saturday.

Till date, the US military aircraft have delivered more than 52,000 meal packets and more than 10,600 gallons of fresh drinking water, it added. The efforts were in coordination with the government of Iraq.

US Central Command said the US military will continue to work with international partners to assess the need for additional humanitarian operations in Iraq.

The British defence ministry has said its forces are to drop food aid for members of the Yazidi community and others under threat from IS militants in Iraq.

US President Barack Obama said earlier Saturday that the air strikes and humanitarian air drop efforts in Iraq continue for some time, but he refused to give a particular time limit.

IANS