Aid flows into Iraq Shiite town after siege broken

Aid began to flow to a small northern Shiite town in Iraq on Monday, a day after security forces backed by Iran-allied Shiite militias and US airstrikes broke a two-month siege by Sunni militants. Ali al-Bayati, who heads local NGO the Turkmen Saving Foundation, said that four trucks loaded with foodstuffs, medicine and fruit had entered the town of Amirli. The aid was sent by the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Red Crescent, he said, adding that soldiers had begun bringing food to families in their houses Sunday night. ‘The situation is getting back to normal, but gradually,’ al-Bayati told The Associated Press. ‘Some people have come out from their houses and walk in the street. Shops are still closed, but people are happy to see their city secured by Iraqi security forces,’ he added. Since early this year, Iraq has faced a growing Sunni insurgency led by an al-Qaida-breakaway group, the Islamic State, and allied militants have taken over territory in the country's north and west. The crisis is Iraq's worst since the 2011 withdrawal of US troops, according to AP.