Royal Air Force to Drop Relief Supplies to Iraqi Refugees

The Royal Air Force will drop relief supplies to Iraqi refugees forced to flee their homes by the advance of the Islamic State extremist group. After a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he hoped the relief operation, particularly targeting members of the Yazidi religious minority trapped on a mountainside, could begin "in the next couple of days". He said Britain was also ready to offer "technical assistance" in support of US humanitarian operations to aid the refugees.

"What we have decided today is to assist the United States in the humanitarian operations that started yesterday," he said. "We are offering technical assistance in that in terms of refuelling and surveillance. We are offering aid of our own which we hope to drop over the next couple of days in support of the American relief effort, particularly to help the plight of those who are trapped on the mountain."

Asked why Britain wasn't intervening militarily given the record of the past 10 years, the defence secretary replied: "We welcome what the Americans are doing, in particular to bring humanitarian relief and to prevent any further suffering. But our focus is on assisting that humanitarian mission, using our military in support of the Americans in terms of refuelling and surveillance to underpin their mission and to add to it with food drops of our own."