The U.S. military said Thursday it completed a delivery of meals and water to thousands of members of a religious minority who fled the town of Sinjar and are trapped in nearby mountains by the group calling itself the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Here is the Pentagon statement on the airdrop, with more details.

    Tonight, the U.S. military conducted a successful airdrop of food and water for thousands of Iraqi citizens threatened by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near Sinjar, Iraq.

    This mission was conducted from multiple airbases within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility and included one C-17 and two C-130 aircraft that together dropped a total of 72 bundles of supplies. They were escorted by two F/A-18s also from an airbase within Central Command; the supply mission did not require any U.S. ground forces.

    The C-17 dropped 40 “Container Delivery System” bundles of fresh drinking water and was complemented by a C-130 loaded with an additional 16 bundles totaling 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water. In addition, one C-130 aircraft dropped 16 bundles totaling 8,000 meals ready to eat. The aircraft were over the drop area for less than fifteen minutes flying at a low altitude.

    As part of the United States commitment to allies and partners in the region, the Department of Defense maintains a robust stock of food items and water for rapid distribution if needed for a natural disaster or other crisis.




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