Thousands of Iraqis, stranded on top of mountain surrounded by ISIS militants, dying of thirst and hunger

Sinjar/ Baghdad: Thousands of people belonging to Yazidi sect have been stranded on top of a mountain near Iraq's city of Sinjar after extremist seized control of the city and forced them to take refuge on top of the mountain. As per the estimates of humanitarian agencies, as many as, 10,000 to 40,000 people are stranded on top of mount Sinjar in extremely precarious conditions. Lack of food and water has resulted in the death of at least 40 children and many more are on the verge of starvation. All the roads leading up to the mountain have been taken over by the ISIS, thus making it impossible for any aid to reach the stranded people, if they descend they risk being slaughtered by extremist militants. Unable to dig graves, families are being forced to bury the dead in shallow graves covered with stones. Iraqi Air Force has unsuccessfully tried to airdrop food and water but was able to reach only a handful of the people. Two days ago, Sunni extremist militants took control of three important Iraqi cities, including Sinjar, and forced thousands of residents belonging to Yazidi sect to seek refuge in nearby mountain ranges. As per UNICEF estimate, around 40 children are already dead as a result of starvation and dehydration as 25,000 other remain stranded on the top. The capture of the Iraqi town of Sinjar by jihadist fighters has sent up to 200,000 people into flight and sparked a "humanitarian tragedy" amid fears for their lives, the United Nations said Sunday. "A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar," the top UN envoy in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a statement after the Islamic State group captured the northern town, which lies near the Syrian border and was already home to thousands of previously displaced families. The UN statement said some reports put the number of people forced to flee by the IS takeover at 200,000. "The United Nations has grave concerns for the physical safety of these civilians," the statement said. It said it was particularly alarmed by the fate of those civilians who fled in the Jabal Sinjar mountains and could be trapped in an area completely surrounded by jihadist fighters. "The humanitarian situation of these civilians is reported as dire, and they are in urgent need of basic items including food, water, and medicine," the statement said. Sinjar was controlled by Kurdish troops but they withdrew on Sunday, the second consecutive day of losses for the peshmerga, who also relinquished the town of Zumar and two nearby oilfields on Saturday. Sinjar is a historical home for the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking minority which follows a pre- Islamic faith derived in part from Zoroastrianism. They have been targeted by the jihadists, who call them devil worshippers. Mladenov urged authorities of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and the federal government in Baghdad to cooperate fully in addressing the crisis. Image: Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence, walk on the outskirts of Sinjar, west of Mosul, Iraq