THE Obama administration said on Wednesday night that most Yazidi refugees had escaped from the Iraq mountain where they had sought refuge from Isis fighters.

The assessment came after US troops secretly scouted Sinjar, revealing far fewer people left on the stark peak than originally feared.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel claimed that six days of US airstrikes against Isis targets in the region had given many an opportunity to escape the mountain. 

US officials said only a few thousand refugees remained on Sinjar mountain, far lower than the tens of thousands that had been reported earlier. 

As a result, a rescue mission was “far less likely now,” Mr Hagel said on Wednesday night, adding that those Iraqis who remained were in relatively good condition.

President Barack Obama had been weighing military options including airlifts and humanitarian corridors, in order to rescue the refugees. 

Officials said Mr Obama had not completely ruled out the possibility of a rescue mission, but agreed with Mr Hagel’s assessment that such steps were now less likely.

The US had dispatched a small team of troops to the mountain by helicopter for a first-hand look at rescue mission possibilities.

Meanwhile, a US drone aircraft attacked and destroyed an armed truck operated by Isis fighters near Sinjar, the US Central Command said.

The Pentagon said that the US would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis as needed and would also continue to protect US personnel and facilities in the region.