Thousands of desperate Iraqi refugees, including religious minorities such as the Yazidi and Christians, have been driven away from their homes by Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group. Displaced and destitute, many sought shelter in an unfinished structure in Erbil, where they live on limited resources.
“It's nothing short of a humanitarian disaster. These people were displaced from their villages from one day to the next and came with only the clothes on their back," said Karim Elkorany of UNICEF.
U.S. airstrikes on the militants began last week. President Obama has described the efforts as a humanitarian campaign, saying that he expects it to be “a long-term project.”