Islamists’ surge forces thousands of Christians to flee

Islamist militants surged across northern Iraq towards the capital of the Kurdish region yesterday, sending tens of thousands of Christians fleeing for their lives.

Reuters photographs showed what appeared to be Islamic State fighters controlling a checkpoint at the border area of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, little over 30 minutes’ drive from Arbil, a city of 1.5m that is headquarters of the Kurdish regional government and many businesses.

The fighters had raised the movement’s black flag over the guard post. However a Kurdish security official denied that the militants were in control of the Khazer checkpoint, and the regional government said its forces were advancing and would “defeat the terrorists”, urging people to stay calm.

The White House said the US government and military were supporting Iraqi and Kurdish forces to protect people trapped by Islamic State fighters.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said any US military action would be “very limited in scope” and tied to Iraqi political reforms, adding: “There are no American military solutions to the problems in Iraq.”

Sunni militants captured Iraq’s biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to flee, fearing they would be subjected to the same demands the Sunni militants made in other captured areas — leave, convert to Islam, or face death.

France called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the terrorist threat in Iraq”.

President François Hollande’s office said after he spoke with Kurdistan president Masoud Barzani that Paris was prepared to support forces engaged in the defence of Iraqi Kurdistan. It did not say how.

The Islamic State said in a statement that its fighters had seized 15 towns, the strategic Mosul dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an offensive that began at the weekend.

Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq’s biggest.

The Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in the weekend sweep, prompting tens of thousands from the ancient Yazidi community to flee the town of Sinjar for surrounding mountains.

Some of the many thousands trapped on Sinjar mountain have been rescued in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding that 200,000 had fled the fighting.

The plight of fleeing Christians prompted Pope Francis to appeal to world leaders to help end what the Vatican called “the humanitarian tragedy now under way” in northern Iraq.

— Reuters