Up to 40,000 Iraqis forced to choose between dying of thirst... or slaughter by extremists: Refugees stranded on mountain surrounded by ISIS waiting to kill them

Families from Yazidi minority forced from homes by Islamic militants

Around 20 children have died on mountain from harsh conditions

UN chief: 'There is no water, no vegetation. It’s a total disaster'

Some 40,000 Iraqi refugees face starvation after being forced into hiding on a barren mountain top by a circling band of bloodthirsty jihadists.

They must now decide whether to descend and risk being slaughtered or hope their attackers are defeated before they die of thirst or hunger, officials said.

They were driven from the town of Sinjar by ISIS over the weekend and have already been forced to bury at least 20 children who succumbed to the harsh conditions on Mount Sinjar.



Scroll down for video

Bleak: Iraqi Yazidi women who fled ISIS in the Iraqi town of Sinjar take refuge in the Kurdish city of Dohuk. Around 40,000 other Yazidis have been forced to the top of a mountain by the militants Forced into hiding: An Iraqi Yazidi family that fled the violence in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar sit at a school where they are taking shelter in the Kurdish city of Dohuk in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region

Marzio Babille, the Iraq representative for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said: 'There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads.

'There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by the Islamic State. It’s a disaster, a total disaster. '

One of those trapped, 23-year-old Shihab Balki, texted Loveday Morris from The Washington Post to say he had witnessed several deaths over the last few days.

'I saw their bodies with my own eyes,' he wrote.

Their plight came as the UN Security Council warned that ISIS may be held accountable for crimes against humanity for its systematic persecution of minorities in Iraq.

The council singled out the group's attacks on the strategic city of Tal Afar near the Syrian border, which it seized in June, and neighboring Sinjar, which it captured on Saturday, for condemnation.



ISIS issued an ultimatum to tens of thousands of people from the Yazidi community on Saturday to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death.



Yesterday, the extremist group posted images on social media showing the moment it stormed Sinjar.

One picture showed several men lying face down in a field with a gun pointed at their heads, with the caption: 'Kill them wherever you find them.'

Displaced: The UN Security Council warned that ISIS may be held accountable for crimes against humanity for its systematic persecution of minorities in Iraq Barren: Mount Sinjar, where thousands of Yazidi families have been forced to flee from Islamic militants

Yazidis follow an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism.

At least 40 children from those displaced from Sinjar were killed in the violence in the area, UNICEF said yesterday.

Kurdish fighters from Iraq, Syria and Turkey were co-ordinating operations in northern Iraq to reclaim areas lost to the jihadists and rescue thousands of civilians stranded in the nearby mountains, it was reported by AFP.

Iraqi helicopters have dropped some supplies, but officials warned the process of providing safe passage would take days.



The UN security council condemned the Islamic State group and associated armed groups 'in the strongest terms' for attacking and killing minorities, including Christians, as well as Iraqis who oppose their 'extremist ideology.'

The radical Islamist militants went on a lightning offensive last month, crossing from territory they hold in Syria and capturing a large swath of northern and western Iraq, in co-operation with local Sunnis who have long distrusted Iraq's Shi'ite dominated government.

Marauding: ISIS has posted pictures of its takeover of Sinjar on social networking sites The Security Council said in a press statement approved by all 15 members that the group poses a threat not only to Syria and Iraq 'but to regional peace, security and stability.' It expressed deep concern for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced, many from vulnerable minority communities especially the Yazidis who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. The Security Council said many Iraqis from Tal Afar and Sinjar have been forced to flee and seek refuge 'while many others have been executed or kidnapped.' Council members noted that 'widespread or systematic attacks directed against any civilian populations because of their ethnic background, religion or belief may constitute a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable.' Ruthless: One picture shows men lying face-down in a field, with a gun pointed at their heads with the caption: 'Kill them wherever you find them'

They stressed that all parties, including the Islamic State group, 'must abide by international humanitarian law, including the obligation to protect the civilian population.'

Iraq's government has been struggling to unite to confront the threat from the extremists, and it has yet to choose a new prime minister.

Council members called on all Iraqi communities 'to unite to respond, with the support of the international community, to this violent and senseless threat to Iraq's unity, identity and future.'

The council specifically called on all political groups to overcome divisions and work together, and for the country's leaders 'to engage as quickly as possible to form a government that represents all segments of the Iraqi population and that contributes to finding a viable and sustainable solution to the country's current challenges.'