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UN Launches Aid Operation In Northern Iraq


The United Nations agency for refugees has launched an aid operation to get supplies to more than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.

The UNHCR said a four-day airlift of tents and other goods began on August 20 to the main Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil.

It will be followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces claimed advances against Islamic State (IS) militants on August 19 as troops established key positions in the town of Tikrit, 140 kilometers from Baghdad.

Earlier this week, Iraqi and Kurdish forces retook the strategically important Mosul dam from IS militants.

The group has seized large swaths of territory in Iraq, prompting the United States to launch air strikes in the country for the first time since its withdrawal in 2011.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

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