Iraqi forces break Islamic State Seige of Amerli

Iraqi troops supported by U.S airstrikes entered the town of Amerli Sunday, Iraqi officials said.

The town was encircled by the Islamic State militants since June. Residents of  Amerli, a Shiite Turkmen village, were living in fear of a mass killing by the militants, reports The Washington Post.

"Amerli has been liberated," said Mahdi Taqi, a local politician and Amerli resident. "There is so much joy and people are cheering in the streets."

The town was totally cut off from the outside world by the militants since June and even aid agencies had problems in delivering food supplies. The inhabitants of Amerli were fully armed and equipped to  fight the militants, but they faced a shortage of essential provisions as days passed.

But what proved decisive in freeing Amerli were the U.S air strikes which aided the Iraqi military in entering the town.

Iraqi officials said that the joint effort by the Iraqi military and other militia groups began after nightfall on Saturday, said Iraqi officials.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said that along with air strikes, the U.S. Air Force also dropped humanitarian aid to the people of Amerli on Saturday, reports Voice of America.

Aircrafts of Australia, Britain and France also pitched in along with the US Air Force in delivering the aid, Kirby said.

Meanwhile, Australia has decided to join the international effort to provide weapons to Kurdish forces fighting against the Islamic State, said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot.

He also described the condition is Iraq as a humanitarian catastrophe.

The previous week U.N. representative in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, had expressed anxiety regarding the situation and forewarned of a possible mass killing by the Islamic State militants if they captured the town, reports The Washington Post.