US launches an airstrike in Iraq to target Islamic militants

The US department of defense has launched an airstrike against at Islamic militants in northern Iraq.

 

It said that it had used American aircraft to target artillery that was being used by the Islamic State (IS) against Kurdish forces defending the city of Irbil.

 

The move follows US President Barack Obama's authorisation of air strikes in the north of the country during a statement last night.

 

He said that the strikes would be used to prevent the killing of religious minorities by members of IS, which has taken over large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria in recent months. 

 

He described the group as having embarked on “the systematic destruction of Christians and Yazidis” in the region. Last month, IS gave Christians in the Iraqi town of Mosul an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a special tax, or face execution. Hundreds of them left as a result.

 

Yesterday, IS took control of Qaraqosh, Iraq's second biggest Christian town. Across the country, it is thought that as many as 100,000 Christians have fled their homes in anticipation of an IS advance into new territory.

 

The Yazidis are a minority group whose origins and ethnicity remain in question, but their religion incorporates aspects of a number of different faiths. There are only around 50,000 of them worldwide, but the majority are based in Iraq's Ninevah province.

 

“We have a mandate to help – in this case a request from the Iraqi government – and when we have unique capabilities to act to avoid a massacre, I believe the United States cannot turn a blind eye,” said Obama as he explained the basis of his decision.

 

But he added that the US would act "carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide".

 

The strikes are also intended to protect US interests, since US diplomats and military advisers have a significant presence in the Kurdish capital of Irbil, where it is thought that IS militants might head. However, Obama said that he would not be sending US troops back to the country.