Iraq needs unity government to fight militants

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday that Iraq needs a "broad unity government" if it is to combat Islamist militants who have seized swathes of territory and are threatening minorities.

Fabius is in Iraq for crisis talks on the rapid advance of Islamic State (IS). His visit came after the US launched a third round of air strikes targeting IS fighters who have trapped members of the Yazidi sect on Mount Sinjar, BBC reported.

The US, Britain, and France have begun delivering aid supplies to the Yazidis.

Thousands of members of the religious minority community fled to the mountains after IS (formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS)) overran the town of Sinjar last week. The Sunni militant group has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria, declaring a "caliphate", or Islamic state, in the region.

US President Barack Obama authorised the air strikes last week to halt the insurgency.