The US President Barack Obama has said short-term immediate military actions are needed in Iraq - and the US is looking at options.

Iraq's armed forces are reported to be fighting back against militants who've taken over large parts of the country.

However a humanitarian crisis is looming, with half a million people fleeing the violence, many of them children.

Unicef Ireland is trying to get essential survival packages to the refugees who've fled in scorching heat from the fighting.

Barack Obama made this statement during a press conference: