UN warns of possible massacre of Shiites in Amerli

The UN has called for action to prevent what it says may be a possible massacre in Amerli, a town in northern Iraq. Special representative Nickolay Mladenov says he is ‘seriously alarmed’ by reports regarding the conditions in which the town’s residents live. Amerli, under siege by Islamic State (IS) for two months, has no electricity or drinking water, and is running out of food and medical supplies. The militants have seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months. Since 8 August, the US has carried out 94 air strikes to support Iraqi and Kurdish troops tackling the IS insurgents.
‘Immediate action’ needed
The majority of Amerli’s residents are Turkmen Shiite, seen as apostates by IS. The town’s inhabitants say they have had to organise their own resistance to the jihadists and no foreign aid has reached the town since the siege began. ‘The situation of the people in Amerli is desperate and demands immediate action to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens,’ Mladenov said in a statement. ‘I urge the Iraqi government to do all it can to relieve the siege and to ensure that the residents receive life-saving humanitarian assistance or are evacuated in a dignified manner,’ according to BBC.