Hundreds of Yazidi refugees who were stranded on a barren mountainside in Iraq, surrounded on all sides by bloodthirsty Islamic State fighters, have been escorted to safety. Kurdish peshmerga forces used JCB-style diggers, tractors, trucks and donkeys to evacuate the persecuted minority, whose suffering help drag the U.S. into bombing raids on the jihadists. Some of the people were taken out on foot, in snaking lines through the desert. An estimated 5,000 were brought to safety by the Kurds, which could leave tens of thousands more still in acute danger in the Sinjar mountains. Scroll down for video Unconventional rescue: Kurdish peshmerga used all manner of vehicles to evacuate stranded Yazidi
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Soldiers used diggers, donkeys, tractors and trucks to escort persecuted minority from Sinjar mountain range
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Jihadist group earlier said it will kill Yazidi families in Koja, Hatimiya and Qaboshi unless they convert to Islam
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They are also surrounding thousands in Sinjar, near Turkish border, where Yazidi people fear slaughter at their hands
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Americans and Kurdish forces have made aid drops on the mountain, with British helicopters soon to join in
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Comes after Barack Obama authorised air strikes on Islamic State artillery emplacements and convoys yesterday
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They today received aid from @placeholder and American forces, who have intervened to protect the embattled minority group after an international outcry.
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They today received aid from Kurdish and @placeholder forces, who have intervened to protect the embattled minority group after an international outcry.
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Under fire: The film crew, embedded with the @placeholder fighters, also saw a firefight between the helicopter gunner and IS forces with anti-aircraft weapons
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But he added: 'We will protect our @placeholder citizens in Iraq whether they're diplomats, civilians or military.
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How events unfolded: Yesterday marked a landmark campaign by the @placeholder, its first incursion into Iraq by air since troops pulled out of the country in 2011