Residents in the northern Iraqi town of Amerli are evacuated to safety.<br/> <br />Scenes like these have been ongoing for weeks as tensions mount between members of Islamic State and the some 15,000 residents who remain trapped.<br/> <br />Iraqi army and Kurdish forces have managed to make some headway against militants but have asked the international community for help.<br/> <br />Saturday night, the U.S. military carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State and along with aircraft from Australia, various European nations, airdropped humanitarian supplies to the region.<br/> <br />Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE)(English) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT SAYING:<br/> <br />"We have agreed to join this airlift at the request of the (U.S. President Barack Obama) Obama administration in the United States and with the permission of the Iraqi government."<br/> <br />U.S. President Barack Obama said the military operations were necessary in part to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe fo
