US forces yesterday launched fresh airstrikes in northern Iraq to defend civilian from genocidal terrorists, the Pentagon said, on the second day of its military campaign.
President Barack Obama had announced this week he had authorized US air strikes in part to help break the siege of Mount Sinjar, where fighters from the so-called “Islamic State” forces have cornered and reportedly threatened to kill thousands of civilian refugees belonging to an unarmed religious minority group.
The first strike, at around 11:20 Washington time (1520 GMT), was carried out by a mix of fighter jets and drones, the United States Central Command, which covers the Middle East, said in a statement.
It targeted two armored personnel carriers firing on civilians near Sinjar, the state said, adding one of the two IS vehicles was hit and destroyed.
Twenty minutes later, after monitoring the second personnel carrier, the US aircraft struck and apparently destroyed two additional armored personnel carriers and an armed truck.
And at around 3:00 pm Washington time (1900 GMT), a US plane located, struck, and apparently destroyed another armored personal carrier near Sinjar.
On Friday, two waves of airstrikes hit an IS artillery position, destroyed a militant convoy and killed a mortar team.
US and Iraqi aircraft have also air dropped food and water to the thousands stranded on Mount Sinjar since fleeing IS attacks on their homes a week ago. The refugees have suffered dozens of casualties specially amongst small children due to acute thirst in the pitiless desert.
