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US President Barack Obama on Thursday said that US air strikes had ended the siege in the Sinjar Mountains in Iraq where civilians had sought refuge, and that soldiers conducting reconnaissance will be withdrawn.
However, he added that US air strikes will continue against extremist forces belonging to the Islamic State (IS) if they threaten US facilities and personnel in the region, including the regional capital of Arbil.
“The bottom line is — the situation on the mountain has greatly improved and Americans should be very proud of our efforts because the skill and professionalism of our military and the generosity of our people we broke the ISIL siege of Mount Sinjar”, Obama said.
“We helped save many innocent lives. Because of these efforts, we do not expect (there) to be an additional operation to evacuate people off the mountain and it’s unlikely we’re going to need to continue humanitarian air drops on the mountain”, he added.
Obama had last week authorized air strikes in the region and warned that thousands of people from the Yazidi minority community risked genocide – members of the community fled to the mountain as they were pursued by IS extremists. He added that the US will still implement air strikes and provide military assistance to Kurdish and Iraqi federal forces battling the IS.
“We will continue air strikes to protect our people and facilities in Iraq”, Obama said, citing the risk to US consulate in Arbil as the reason for his military intervention.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that there are around 4,000-5,000 Yazidis are still being sheltered on Mount Sinjar in Iraq.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, spokesman from the Pentagon said that US Special Forces found out that not all Yazidis were planning to flee.
“A number of them — perhaps 2,000 or so — reside there and may not want to leave. It’s home to them and they won’t be necessarily looking to leave”, he said.
“That’s our best estimate based on the assessment teams”, he said about the number of refugees.
“We believe that the threat to the mass violence on Mount Sinjar has passed, largely passed.That said, we’re not going to take our eye off and we’re going to be watching”, he said.
“We still have several thousands left on that mountain and many of whom may want to leave, and so we’re mindful of that, which is why we did another airdrop last night”, he added.