Royal Air Force Makes Second Aid Drop to Iraq

British forces have dropped a second round of aid to thousands of people trapped on a mountain as they flee advancing militants in Iraq.

The RAF was able to deliver "essential supplies" over Mount Sinjar last night to assist the Yazidis, the Department for International Development (DfID) confirmed.

The move follows an aborted attempt to deliver aid to the location in northern Iraq, which was called off when the RAF crew decided that the supplies could have injured the desperate people below. A first successful aid drop took place last weekend.

Downing Street has also confirmed that the RAF will send "a small number" of Tornado jets to the region so they can be used, if required, to improve the UK's surveillance capability in the region to help the humanitarian effort.

The UK will also look at how it can play a role in getting equipment to Kurdish forces as they are better able to counter the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), Number 10 added.

President Barack Obama said the US had "stepped up" its support to Iraqi and Kurdish forces engaged in the fight on the ground and was continuing with its daily humanitarian efforts.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who chaired a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee to discuss the crisis yesterday, said the situation was "challenging" and warned of a "potential humanitarian disaster on a huge scale".

DfID said the UK's second aid drop included 3,180 reusable water purification containers filled with 15,900 litres of clean water and 816 solar lamps that can also be used to charge mobile phones.