Help: 6 million Iraqis in urgent need of food, water and shelter

BRUSSELS -- The United Nations launched an appeal on Thursday for half a billion dollars in international aid to help tackle a worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq triggered by the conflict with Daesh (ISIL) militants.

Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, launched the appeal in Brussels, and said the United Nations would be forced to slash or shut down more than half its aid operations in Iraq without an immediate injection of new funds, according to the Reuters.

The world body said it was asking donors for $497 million to pay for shelter, food and water over the next six months for 5.6 million people displaced or affected by violence between Iraqi government forces and ISIL.

"The crisis in Iraq is one of the most complex and volatile anywhere in the world," Grande said in a statement.

A sharp cutback in the humanitarian aid effort due to lack of funding would have catastrophic implications, she said.

Three million people have been displaced within Iraq since the beginning of last year. -end-

Image by uk.reuters.com/