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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Iraq crisis: UK rescue mission 'less likely' | Iraq crisis: UK rescue mission 'less likely' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A mission to rescue Iraqis trapped by Islamist fighters on Mount Sinjar is now "less likely", the international development secretary has said. | A mission to rescue Iraqis trapped by Islamist fighters on Mount Sinjar is now "less likely", the international development secretary has said. |
| Justine Greening said the latest US inspection found fewer Yazidi refugees than expected and those remaining were in a better condition than feared. | Justine Greening said the latest US inspection found fewer Yazidi refugees than expected and those remaining were in a better condition than feared. |
| She said it showed US air strikes were working but added Britain would support a rescue mission if necessary. | She said it showed US air strikes were working but added Britain would support a rescue mission if necessary. |
| A fourth aid drop was delivered overnight by UK troops. | A fourth aid drop was delivered overnight by UK troops. |
| Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting a distribution centre in Wiltshire on Thursday morning to see the operation behind humanitarian aid being sent to Iraq. | Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting a distribution centre in Wiltshire on Thursday morning to see the operation behind humanitarian aid being sent to Iraq. |
| He said on Wednesday the UK would "play a role" in any international rescue effort. | |
| Thousands of people are fleeing militant group Islamic State (IS), which has seized large parts of northern Iraq in recent months. | Thousands of people are fleeing militant group Islamic State (IS), which has seized large parts of northern Iraq in recent months. |
| 'Critical' | |
| Ms Greening told BBC Breakfast that work to get supplies to those displaced by the fighting had been "absolutely critical". | |
| "It's been a very uncertain picture. We've seen some people leaving the mountain while other people have been forced on to it," she said. | "It's been a very uncertain picture. We've seen some people leaving the mountain while other people have been forced on to it," she said. |
| "Clearly we will need to continue our work to get all of those supplies to people who are still there over the coming days. | "Clearly we will need to continue our work to get all of those supplies to people who are still there over the coming days. |
| "We will make sure we do that." | "We will make sure we do that." |
| On Wednesday, the UN declared the situation in Iraq a "level three emergency", its highest level of humanitarian crisis. | |
| Jihadists from IS are reportedly targeting Iraqi Christians and members of the Yazidi religious sect. | |
| About 35,000 people have escaped from the mountains into Syria and on to the Kurdistan region of Iraq in the past three days, with the UN warning they needed "life-saving assistance". | |
| Some 700,000 Yazidis are believed to have been displaced. |