Relatives in the U.S. of Yazidi Iraqis who are living in a region threatened by the ISIS militants are worried about their family.

"They're dying by the minute," Atlanta resident Dr. Omed Kashakhi told NBC. "They are getting slaughtered by the minute."

The militants attacked the region without warning on Aug. 2, and since then have forced the Yazidis to abandon their homes and flee into the mountains.

Currently, hundreds of Yazidis are hiding in mountains in the province of Dohuk, and the ISIS militants have surrounded the area below, forcing the refugees to continue living without food and water in temperatures reaching 122 degrees, according to Time.

The Yazidis are believers of one of the oldest religions in the world, and little is known about them.

"They are a secretive community who pass on oral traditions -- much of which is unknown to outsiders," Hayder al-Khoei, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Program told TIME.

Intermarriage with non-Yazidis is forbidden, and it is impossible to convert to their religion, he said.

The Yazidis had known that ISIS was in the area, but they assumed the militants were on a path toward Baghdad and that they were not in harm's way.

But the militants have attacked the sect and captured hundreds of women, raped them in front of their family and sold them as sex slaves, according to NBC.

"They have nowhere to go and no transportation to use to flee the area either and no weapons to defend themselves; they are surrounded by ISIS group. If ISIS get their hands on those innocent people, they would be slaughtered mercilessly. They have no one to defend them, at this time the only hope they have is the United States," Kashakhi said.

When President Barack Obama announced the airstrikes Thursday, Kashakhi said she was relieved that help was on the way for her family.