An international humanitarian mission to rescue thousands of Yazidis trapped in Iraq is "far less likely" to take place after it has been revealed fewer are stranded than previously feared.
Yesterday the British Prime Minister David Cameron said "detailed plans" were in place for a rescue mission in which, he added, "Britain will play a role in delivering."
But Mr Cameron today suggested that the UK plans needed to be "flexible" for the "complicated humanitarian mission."
It comes after US Army Special Forces soldiers and a US Agency for International Development (USAID) team spent several hours on Mount Sinjar speaking to refugees on Wednesday.
They have since returned to Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, and reported fewer Yazidis remain trapped on the mountain than previously thought.
Some 5,000 refugees remain stranded there, according to sources. Some live there, while around 1,000 are being rescued every night by Iraqi forces.
It had previously been thought there were between 20,000 and 30,000 trapped on Mount Sinjar after fleeing Sunni militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
IS fighters have threatened the ancient religious group with death if they failed to convert to Islam.
The Pentagon said an "evacuation mission is far less likely" given that humanitarian aid drops, airstrikes on IS fighters and the efforts of Peshmerga fighters had allowed many Yazidis to escape.
But it added the US would continue to provide humanitarian assistance as needed and protect US personnel and facilities.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the Iraqi government had "received atrocious accounts on the abduction and detention of Yazidi, Christian, Turkomen and Shabak women and girls and boys, and reports of savage rapes".
"Some 1,500 Yazidis and Christians may have been forced into sexual slavery," he added.
And Jonathan Rugman of Channel 4 News told Newstalk Breakfast earlier that conditions were not as bad as had been claimed.
Originally published 06:28
