President Barack Obama has authorised airstrikes against Islamist militants in northern Iraq and ordered airdrops of supplies to besieged religious minorities.
Three aircraft delivered food and water to thousands of Iraqis trapped on a mountain, and left the drop zone after 15 minutes, according to the Pentagon.
In a late-night televised address, Mr Obama said targeted strikes would be launched - if needed - to stop the advance on Irbil by the Islamic State - the group previously known as ISIS or ISIL.
The President said the action would be aimed at defending Americans and protect civilians under siege, preventing a "potential act of genocide".
Thousands of Yazidis have fled their homes "Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, 'There is no one coming to help,'" said Mr Obama.
"Well, today America is coming to help."
However, he stressed there was no intention of sending in any troops.
Prime Minister David Cameron called the attacks by IS "barbaric" and said he was "extremely concerned by the appalling situation in Iraq and the desperate situation facing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis".
However, Downing Street said there would be no military action in Iraq.
Some 40,000 residents from the ancient Yazidi community have been forced to leave the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar after the Sunni fighters overwhelmed Kurdish forces.
Many Yazidis are trapped on Mount Sinjar without food or water and are at risk of starvation as the militants surround the base.
"Children are dying of thirst, meanwhile ISIL forces have called for the destruction of the entire Yazidi people, which would constitute genocide," Mr Obama said.
Obama in discussion with his national security team "These innocent families are faced with a horrible choice: Descend the mountain and be slaughtered, or stay and slowly die of thirst and hunger."
Two F-18 fighter jets kept watch over the three cargo aircraft - one C-17 and two C-130s - during the Mount Sinjar aid mission.
The planes dropped 72 bundles, containing more than 20,000 litres of drinking water and 8,000 pre-packaged meals.
Militants have been surging across the north of Iraq towards Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region.
The US has a consulate in the city, where civilian and military staff work.
Mr Obama said target would target IS convoys "should they move toward the city".
The announcement was Mr Obama's most significant response yet to the crisis. The President had been reluctant to deepen US military re-engagement in Iraq after the last troops left in 2011.
ISIS issued an ultimatum toYazidis to convert to Islam But he said the strikes had been approved to help Iraqi forces and stop a "massacre" of the Yazidis.
IS has issued the Yazidi people an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death.
The group sees the Yazidis, who are followers of a religion derived from Zoroastrianism, as "devil worshippers".
Attacks on minorities in Iraq could constitute a crime against humanity, said the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Christians, are fleeing from the jihadists who have swept through more than a dozen towns in recent days.
Militants have been surging across the north of Iraq towards Irbil Among them, the militants captured Iraq's biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to leave, fearing for their lives.
The group has declared a caliphate - an Islamic state - across much of Iraq and Syria and wants to bring in a strict version of Islamic law.
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