Over 17 thousand people have fled their houses looking for refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Ten thousand of these people crossed the border in the last 24 hours, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 
 
The refugees were forced to cross a mobile bridge installed on the Tigris river to reach the Iraqi side of the frontier.
 
The BBC reports quoted correspondents as saying that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and UNHCR were struggling to cope with such a massive influx.