Refugees trapped on a northern Iraq mountaintop burst into tears of relief Monday as they were hauled aboard a rickety Iraqi rescue helicopter that also delivered lifesaving supplies to those left behind.
The harrowing scene was captured on video by a CNN crew that joined the dramatic rescue on Mount Sinjar, where tens of thousands of members of the ancient Yazidi sect fled from rampaging Islamic State militants.
“Civilians [were] racing toward the helicopter, throwing their children on board the aircraft. The crew was trying to pull as many people aboard as possible. It was chaotic, it was crazy, but we were able to lift off with about 20 civilians,” said CNN’s Ivan Watson.
“The crowd on the helicopter burst into tears, as did some of the [Kurdish] peshmerga [fighters] who were aboard. There was not a dry eye on the aircraft,” he said.
The Kurdish forces opened up with mounted machine guns as the chopper lifted off to deter militant fire from the ground, terrifying the mostly young and elderly refugees.
But the evacuees were the lucky ones. The makeshift evacuations were rescuing only about 60 Yazidis a day.
The US stepped up efforts to help the Yazidis after the Islamic State jihadis forced them from their homes and killed hundreds, including women and children. Other young women were captured as slaves, authorities said.
Also Monday, President Obama repeated that there was no American military solution to the crisis.
“The only lasting solution is for Iraqis to come together and form an inclusive government,” he said during a brief statement from his Martha’s Vineyard vacation spot.
His comments came as Iraq’s new president, Fouad Massoum, snubbed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and nominated a rival, Haider al-Ibadi, to form the new government — a move hailed by Obama.