US air drops supplies to Iraqi tribe that lost village to Islamic State

The US military has air-dropped humanitarian aid to members of Iraq's Albu Nimr tribe who lost their village in western Iraq to Islamic State militants last week after weeks of resistance, US Central Command said on Tuesday.

The military said the airdrop near Iraq's Al Asad Air Base came on Monday at the request of the Iraqi government.

A US Air Force C-130 aircraft delivered more than 7,000 halal meals, which were retrieved by Iraqi forces and delivered to members of the Albu Nimr tribe who recently fled their homes, Central Command said.

The Albu Nimr tribe had been fending off Islamic State since early October but finally lost the Sunni Muslim village of Zauiyat albu Nimr in the western province of Anbar last Thursday.