Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- As violence continues to wrack Iraq, another ethnic slaughter may be in the making by Sunni extremists from ISIS. 

ISIS fighters have besieged the ethnic Turkmen Shiite town of Amerli in the north for two months, and its fewer than 20,000 residents are without power and running out of food, water and medical supplies. 

"The situation of the people in Amerli is desperate and demands immediate action to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens," said Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Iraq. 

He said the suffering was "unspeakable" and demanded that the Shiite majority Iraqi government "relieve the siege" on Amerli. 

Small town fights ISIS 

About 5,000 families live in Amerli, which has been under siege for 70 days, according to Dr. Ali Albayati, head of the Turkmen Saving Foundation. He told CNN the town is running without electricity, is out of medicine and can only turn to wells for water. 

Nearly three dozen villages surrounding Amerli are already under ISIS control, Albayati said. The people of Amerli are relying on the Iraqi government to take them out by helicopter or support them with food drops, Albayati said. In the past 10 days, he added, only one flight has delivered food. 

Surrounded on four sides, the 17,400 residents have had to defend themselves with only the help of local police, said Masrwr Aswad of Iraq's Human Rights Commission. 

Their situation echoes the ordeal of Iraq's ethnic Yazidis, whose plight after they were forced to flee into the mountains to escape militants ISIS triggered U.S. aid drops and the first U.S. airstrikes against ISIS. 

Answer the following questions:
1. How long has Amerli been under siege?
2. Who is responsible to them being under siege?
3. How many people reside there?
4. Where are residents going for their water?
5. Who is reporting this information?
6. Anyone specific?
7. What does he do?
8. How is food getting to the people?
9. Who is doing the food drops?
10. How many have there been recently?
11. Have the residents had to defend themselves?
12. Is anyone helping?
13. Who?
14. Are they at any sort of disadvantage?
15. How so?
16. Does this story remind us of any other?
17. What happened?
18. Did anyone help them?
19. Who?
20. How?
21. What was noteworthy about that?

Numbered answers:
1. 70 days
2. ISIS
3. fewer than 20,000
4. wells
5. CNN
6. Dr. Ali Albayati
7. head of the Turkmen Saving Foundation
8. food drops
9. the Iraqi government
10. only one
11. yes
12. yes
13. local police
14. yes
15. they're surrounded on four sides
16. yes
17. The Yazidis were forced to flee into the mountains
18. yes
19. the U.S.
20. aid drops and airstrikes against ISIS
21. they were the first U.S. airstrikes against ISIS