Thousands of Yazidi refugees, trapped by jihadists on Mount Sinjar, have manged to escape to Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Yazidi, under the threat of death from Islamic State militants, were assisted by Kurdish rebels who crossed the border from Syria and US air strikes.

Many are gathered around the town of Dohuk.

One Yazidi refugee spoke of the plight of his community: “They used rocket propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns. We didn’t have enough ammunition, so we had to flee the mountain. Children died, the elderly died, we got out who we could, they took the girls and women.”

The air attacks and actions of the Syrian Kurds created a six-hour window, which enabled around 20,000 Yazidis to flee.

Another 20,000 remain on the mountain.

The US is pondering a full-scale rescue.