U.N. sends aid to half a million fleeing violence in Iraq

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(adds details, quotes) GENEVA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday it was launching a major aid operation to get supplies to more than half a million people displaced by fighting in **rthern Iraq. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since fighters led by the militant Islamic State group swept through much of the **rth and west of Iraq in June, threatening to break up the country. A four-day airlift of tents and other goods will begin on Wednesday to Arbil, Iraq from Aqaba in Jordan, followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan and sea shipments from Dubai via Iran over the next 10 days, said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards. "This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster." The UNHCR estimates that a total of 1.2 million have fled their homes across Iraq this year.

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