Thousands of Christians fled as the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) seized Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian city, on Thursday. U.S. Thousands of Christians fled as the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) seized Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian city, on Thursday. U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against the jihadists and approved a humanitarian mission to deliver food and other supplies to Iraq. Meanwhile , the U.S. suspended delivery of F-16’s and Apache gunships as IS continues to lay seige to Iraq’s largest air force base at Balad, formerly known as Camp Anaconda.