WASHINGTON D.C.
The United States Department of Defense has confirmed that two American warplanes bombed Islamic State artillery in northern Iraq.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the strikes, at roughly 10:45 GMT on Friday, were carried out by two F/A-18 Hornet jets that dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on IS forces near Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region.
“ISIL was using this artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil where U.S. personnel are located,” he said.
The Islamic State was formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
The attacks followed authorization by President Barack Obama on Thursday evening to protect U.S. personnel in Erbil and support forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege of Mount Sinjar, where thousands of Ezidi civilians have sought refuge from militants.
The U.S. Air Force carried out airdrops of food and water for stranded Ezidis before Obama authorized airstrikes.
There were reports the U.S. had conducted airstrikes in Iraq on Thursday but Kirby denied these.
Since Saturday, IS has moved north where battles between the Islamist fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have taken place.
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