Ministers are considering deploying
top-of-the-range Chinook helicopters
Tornado fighter jets are also on their way to
the region to help aid effort
Three aid drops have been carried out - one
on Saturday and two last night
A mission had to be aborted on Sunday as too
many refugees crowded plane
Poll shows narrow public support for air
strikes on ISIS fighters in Iraq
David Cameron is still on holiday in Portugal
and Nick Clegg is in Spain
Britain is considering sending Chinook
helicopters to Iraq, as the Government rapidly ramps up its response to the
sweeping advance of Islamist extremist threatening to massacre thousands of
non-Muslims.
The military helicopters, which could
be used to rescue Yazidi refugees trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing
rampaging Islamic State fighters, would join two RAF C130 Hercules planes
already carrying out aid drops.
A squadron of six to eight Tornado jets
are also on their way to the region amid growing alarm over the plight of up to
a quarter of a million people trapped in northern Iraq.
The proposal to send the Chinook helicopters was being discussed in a meeting of Government’s emergency Cobra committee this afternoon.
The meeting was chaired by the Foreign
Secretary Philip Hammond, with David Cameron still on holiday in Portugal and
the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with his family in Spain.
Defence sources said the helicopters
could be sent to the region in case they were needed at short notice.
The RAF Hercules and Tornado aircraft
are flying aid missions from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, but the Chinooks may need
to operate from a much closer base.
Up to a quarter of a million people
have fled the advances of Islamic State fighters who crossed the border from
Syria to create an Islamic ‘Caliphate’ stretching across the region.
Iraqi Christians and members of the
Yazidi sect have been given an ultimatum to convert to Islam or die.
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