BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations on Wednesday announced its highest level of emergency for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, where hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes and tens of thousands had been trapped on a desert mountain by the advance of Islamic militants across the north of the country.
But after a U.S. Army Special Forces team was flown atop Sinjar Mountain to assess the situation Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters that far fewer refugees were stranded and it was far less likely the U.S. would undertake a rescue mission. Hagel said airdrops of food and water had sustained the refugees and that airstrikes on Islamic State group militants had allowed many to escape.
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