US aircraft hit Islamic State artillery in Iraq: Pentagon
Updated: 2014-08-08 21:30
(Xinhua)
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Baghdad - US military aircraft conducted an airstrike on Friday against Islamic State artillery used against Kurdish forces defending the city of Erbil, near US personnel, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Two F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near Erbil, Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
He said the Islamic rebels had been using the artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil where US personnel are located.
The air strikes came after artillery fire near US personnel, the Pentagon said Friday.
US President Barack Obama authorized these air raids in a bid to protect Christians, and prevent "genocide" of tens of thousands of members of an ancient sect sheltering on a desert mountaintop from the so-called Islamic State militants threatening to exterminate them.
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