CRI听力:Iraqi Forces Enters Amerli

Iraqi government forces have broken through the so-called Islamic State's siege on the town of Amerli.

Government forces, mainly Kurdish fighters, managed to enter the town on Sunday.

At least 12-thousand people have been trapped in the city north of Baghdad for over two months.

The breakthrough has been assisted by U.S. airstrikes.

At the same time, aircraft from Britain, Australia and France have also joined the U.S. in humanitarian aid drop.

Lieutenant General Qassim al-Moussawi is an Iraqi military spokesperson.

"The Iraqi troops were able to enter the town of Amirli. And the military operations of clearing villages around Amirli are still going on. The battles are still continuing as our forces are advancing forward."

The UN has been expressing fears there could be a massacre if the Islamic State maintained its control of the town.

The Sunni extremist group views the Shia Turkmen in the town of Amerli as apostates.

Meanwhile, Germany has announced its going to be selling weapons, including anti-tank missiles, to arm around four-thousand Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.

The move breaks Germany's post-war policy of not sending arms into conflict zones.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says the Islamic State has to be contained.

"If we do not manage to push back the terrorist group of Isis, the fragile order of the Middle East was in serious danger and the region could be threatened by a veritable wildfire. The consequences for the region and also for Europe would be immeasurable."

The Islamic State has seized large parts of territory in northern Iraq and Syria over the past few months, including Iraq's second largest city of Mosul.