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| British aid plane takes off for Iraq | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A cargo plane has left RAF Brize Norton carrying British humanitarian aid to Iraq, the BBC understands. | A cargo plane has left RAF Brize Norton carrying British humanitarian aid to Iraq, the BBC understands. |
| The aid drops are part of an £8m package of aid announced by the UK government. | The aid drops are part of an £8m package of aid announced by the UK government. |
| Members of the Yazidi community trapped on a mountainside in northern Iraq will be among those to receive assistance. | Members of the Yazidi community trapped on a mountainside in northern Iraq will be among those to receive assistance. |
| It comes as the government's emergency Cobra committee prepares to meet to discuss the response to the conflict in Iraq. | |
| 'Brutal persecution' | |
| The BBC understands the meeting will be chaired by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. It is understood talks will focus on the humanitarian aid effort announced by the government on Friday. | |
| There is also likely to be a broader discussion about the situation in Iraq. | |
| Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed US air strikes against militants from the Islamic State (IS) - a group formerly known as Isis, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria. | |
| He has ruled out any UK military action. | |
| IS has recently made fresh gains in northern Iraq and is threatening the capital of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, Irbil. | |
| The latest UK aid package brings the country's total support to the humanitarian effort in Iraq to £13m. | |
| International Development Secretary Justine Greening said the world had been "horrified by the brutal persecution of vulnerable minority groups" in Iraq. | |
| "Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and we are extremely concerned for their safety," she said. | |
| BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said that while Downing Street could not rule out military action indefinitely, the mood was not "gung-ho" ahead of the 2015 general election. | |
| The UK's emergency aid package includes: | |
| Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has advised Britons not to travel to those parts of Iraqi Kurdistan affected by fighting and to leave areas close to the conflict. |