UK to Drop Aid over Iraq, but Will Not Join Air Strikes

The British air force will drop food aid to Iraqi refugees fleeing extremists in "the next couple of days", the defense secretary said Friday, although London has ruled out taking military action with the United States.

The announcement came after the Foreign Office urged Britons in the Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk provinces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region to "leave now" as fighting spreads north.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "extremely concerned by the appalling situation in Iraq and the desperate situation facing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis".

"And I utterly condemn the barbaric attacks being waged by ISIL (now Islamic State) terrorists across the region," he said in a statement.

The government's emergency committee, COBRA, met on Friday morning and agreed to help U.S. humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and send the Royal Air Force (RAF) to drop food for stranded civilians.

The drops will be targeted at members of the minority Yazidi community who have fled from the extremists to the Sinjar mountains in northern Iraq.

"What we have decided today is to assist the United States in the humanitarian operations that started yesterday. We are offering technical assistance in that in terms of refueling and surveillance," said Defense Secretary Michael Fallon.

"We are offering aid of our own which we hope to drop over the next couple of days in support of the American relief effort, particularly to help the plight of those who are trapped on the mountain."

A Ministry of Defense source confirmed this would involve RAF planes.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday authorized U.S. warplanes to drop food and water to refugees and also agreed to targeted airstrikes, which began Friday.

A spokeswoman for Cameron's Downing Street office said however that Britain, which joined the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was "not planning a military intervention".

In a statement, Cameron said: "I welcome President Obama's decision to accept the Iraqi government's request for help and to conduct targeted US airstrikes, if necessary."

And he urged international help for the Yazidis.

"They fear slaughter if they descend back down the slopes but face starvation and dehydration if they remain on the mountain," the prime minister said.

"The world must help them in their hour of desperate need."

In updated travel advice, issued before the U.S. attacks began, the Foreign Office advised "against all travel to those areas of the Kurdistan region -- Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk provinces -- affected by recent fighting".

"This follows attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on towns to the south west of Arbil on 6-7 August. If you're currently in these areas you should leave now," it said.

France, which opposed the 2003 invasion, vowed "support" for those fighting the militant advance in Iraq but has not specified what form that might take.

President Francois Hollande held telephone talks late Thursday about Iraq with the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Massud Barzani, and "confirmed that France was available to support forces engaged in this battle".

Hollande and Barzani "expressed their willingness to cooperate to block the offensive carried out by the Islamic State in the northeast of Iraq," according to a statement from the French leader.

Germany, which also opposed the 2003 war, vowed to boost its humanitarian aid by 2.9 million euros ($3.9 million) and pledged more help if needed.

"It is clear that is not enough and we have to see what we can do beyond that," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.

"The killing, systematic forced displacement and forced conversion of Christians, Yazidis and members of other minorities by... terrorists in Iraq represent a new dimension of the horror," Steinmeier said.

"We condemn these despicable crimes, targeted at entire communities, in the strongest terms."

However, as Western governments condemned the horror, charities and experts warned that the response was too little, too late.

British charity Save the Children said it had never seen such a rapid displacement of people as in the past two months in Iraq, with 1.2 million people fleeing their homes, and called for unfettered humanitarian access to the worst affected areas.

The charity's country director, Tina Yu, said: "We're seeing children and families who've fled their homes, often in the middle of the night, fearing for their lives and with nothing but the clothes on their backs."

Jean-Charles Brisard, an independent terrorism consultant, said France's response in particular had been "cosmetic".

"France and its European partners have made declarations of intent but there has been no action," he told AFP.

"We're now trapped because we've waited too long against very well structured groups."