U.S. President Barack Obama said that the military and humanitarian operation in Iraq could take months, but reaffirmed that U.S. combat troops would not be deployed again.

“I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks,” President Obama said. The long-term goal is to help the Iraqis build a national government in which the Sunni population is fairly represented and not excluded by the Shi’ite majority.

Several F-18 warplanes were dispatched to the area near the Kurdish capital of Erbil in northern Iraq on Friday. The jets dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on weapons and vehicles controlled by Islamic State militants, including a piece of mobile artillery, a seven-vehicle motorcade and a mortar position, according to the New York Times.

The U.S. Air Force also carried out the third airdrop to deliver supplies to Yazidis trapped in Mount Sinjar. The U.S. has now air-dropped a total of 10,600 gallons of water and 52,000 meals.

U.S. officials estimate 5,000 to 12,000 Yazidis fled the mountain on Saturday and expect more followed suit the next day.

CNN reported that Kurdish forces managed to fend off ISIS insurgents and helped the stranded Yazidis to board trucks. They were first transported to Hasaka, a Syrian town near the border, and then Dohuk, a city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

UNICEF estimates 60 children have died on the mountain and is urging the international community to open up a “humanitarian corridor over land” so that the Yazidis can be evacuated safely.

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