MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) – The United States has launched another nine airstrikes against the Islamic State militants near Iraq's largest dam Mosul and the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Erbil, Reuters reported quoting the US Central Command.
“The nine air strikes conducted thus far destroyed or damaged four armored personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armored vehicle,” the Central Command said in a statement.
The strikes were reportedly conducted “with a mix of fighters and drones.”
Last week, US President Barack Obama authorized targeted airstrikes against the Islamic State aimed at protecting US personnel in Erbil, as well as preventing the genocide of Iraqi religious minorities who were forced to flee for their lives.
The Sunni group Islamic State (IS) previously fighting in Syria and known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) seized large parts of Iraq in early June, ratcheting up tensions in the region. In late June, the Islamic State announced the establishment of a caliphate on the territories it had captured in Iraq and Syria.
