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Iraq crisis: UN launches new aid effort in north Iraq Iraq crisis: UN launches new aid effort in north Iraq
(about 2 hours later)
The United Nations agency for refugees is launching a major aid operation to reach more than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.The United Nations agency for refugees is launching a major aid operation to reach more than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.
Supplies will be sent via airlift, road convoys and sea shipments through Turkey, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran. Tents and other goods will be sent to the Kurdish city of Irbil via air, road and sea, the UNHCR said.
A BBC correspondent at Mosul Dam says Kurdish and Iraqi forces have retaken it from Islamic State (IS) militants. Meanwhile a BBC correspondent at the strategically important Mosul Dam says Kurdish and Iraqi forces have retaken it from Islamic State (IS) militants.
IS forces have captured large parts of northern Iraq in recent weeks.IS forces have captured large parts of northern Iraq in recent weeks.
The UN's World Food Programme says it has already served up more than a million meals to displaced people in the past two weeks alone. "UNHCR is this week launching one of its largest aid pushes," the agency's spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters.
Tents and other goods will be included in the aid packages to be delivered to refugees to try and tackle the escalating humanitarian crisis. Aid will first be sent by air from Jordan, beginning on Wednesday. More goods will be sent by road from Turkey, and by sea from Dubai and Iran.
Over the weekend, the UN agency for children Unicef stepped up their aid efforts for minority Yazidi refugees in northern Iraq. "This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster, and it continues to affect very large numbers of people," Mr Edwards said.
Unicef representative Marzio Babille told the BBC it was one of the largest humanitarian responses he had seen in 50 years. An estimated 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced so far in 2014, according to the UN agency - more than 500,000 from fighting in the Anbar region, and another 600,000 displaced from conflicts around Mosul and more recently Sinjar.
In Dohuk, 80,000 refugees had arrived in only 10 days, fleeing from IS militants. "Conditions remain desperate for those without access to suitable shelter - people struggling to find food and water to feed their families, and those without access to primary medical care," the organisation said in a statement.
The aid push comes as Western powers step up efforts to stem the advance of IS by supporting Kurdish and Iraqi government forces in northern Iraq. Dam recaptured
On Monday, US President Barack Obama said that the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq had been recaptured by Kurdish forces, a key gain against the militants who had earlier taken control of it. Meanwhile Western powers are stepping up efforts to stem the advance of IS by supporting Kurdish and Iraqi government forces in northern Iraq.
Mr Obama said the US helped in the operation with air strikes targeting IS positions around the dam, Iraq's largest. On Monday, US President Barack Obama said that the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq had been recaptured by Kurdish forces, a key gain against the militants.
He said the move was a "major step forward", and the US had begun a long-term strategy to defeat the militants, including the building of a humanitarian "international coalition" in response to the crisis faced by refugees. Mr Obama said the US helped in the operation by launching air strikes targeting IS positions around the dam, Iraq's largest.
The statement followed Iraqi claims that the dam had been "fully cleansed", with IS saying it was still in control. He said the move was a "major step forward", and that the US had begun a long-term strategy to defeat the militants, including the building of a humanitarian "international coalition" in response to the crisis faced by refugees.
Recapturing the dam has been a key focus of the last few days as warnings came of catastrophic ramifications if the dam were to fail under IS militants who do not have the capabilities to carry out essential maintenance work on it. Recapturing the dam has been a key focus of the last few days, due to warnings of catastrophic ramifications if the dam came under the control of IS militants who did not have the capabilities to carry out essential maintenance work on it.
According to US assessments the dam has the potential to cause severe flooding in Mosul, and possibly even affect areas as far south as Baghdad. According to US assessments, the dam has the potential to cause severe flooding in Mosul, and possibly even affect areas as far south as Baghdad.
The BBC's Jim Muir, who is at the Mosul Dam complex, says that the dam is now firmly in the hands of Kurdish and Iraqi government forces. The BBC's Jim Muir, who is at the dam complex, says that after several days of fighting, it is now firmly in the hands of Kurdish and Iraqi government forces.
He says the roadside and entrances to the complex are littered with debris and wreckage following American air strikes, as well as the remains of explosives left behind by IS militants.
However, hostilities are not completely over in the area, our correspondent reports.However, hostilities are not completely over in the area, our correspondent reports.
He says the roadside and entrances to the complex are littered with debris and wreckage following American air strikes, as well as the remains of explosives left behind by IS militants.
A short distance away to the south west, gunfire and explosives have been sending smoke into the sky as Kurdish forces try to push their front lines further into the low hills nearby, he says.A short distance away to the south west, gunfire and explosives have been sending smoke into the sky as Kurdish forces try to push their front lines further into the low hills nearby, he says.
US bombers, fighter jets and unmanned drones carried out a total of 25 air strikes over the weekend and 15 more on Monday to secure the dam, with Kurdish and Iraqi forces taking the lead on the ground offensive.