A Pentagon spokesman announced on Wednesday that following an assessment by US personnel of the conditions on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, it is unlikely that American forces will lead a mission to evacuate civilians trapped there by forces of the Islamic State (IS, formally ISIS) terror militia. The assessment team concluded that many of the Yazidi refugees which had been on the mountain until recently have already escaped and those who remain have access to air dropped food and water. Meanwhile, France and the UK are both stepping up their assistance to the Kurdish forces battling IS in northern Iraq, including with shipments of weapons which, according to a French government statement, are being coordinated with the regime in Baghdad. Meanwhile, terrorist attacks in the Iraqi capital are increasing in frequency and size, killing dozens of people this week as the government struggles to emerge from a political crisis and confront the mufti-faceted threats to the country. Read More
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