US military ramp up its campaign against ISIL northern Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The U.S. military ramped up its campaign against Islamist militants in northern Iraq on Friday, with fighter jets and drones conducting additional airstrikes outside the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, officials said.

The first U.S. airstrikes hit Islamic State positions in Makhmour, about 35 miles southwest of Irbil, said Mahmood Haji, an official at the Kurdish Interior Ministry. A second set of strikes took place near the Khazer checkpoint outside Erbil, Haji said.

A day earlier, refugees had been evacuated from a camp in the area largely filled with families who had fled Mosul as Islamic State militants advanced.

That strike was followed by additional bombing against an Islamic State convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position near Erbil. The Pentagon said four aircraft executed two passes over the convoy, dropping a total of eight laser-guided bombs.

President Obama authorized the strikes following the launch of a powerful Islamic State offensive in northern Iraq. He also sent U.S. military aircraft to drop food and water to besieged Iraqi civilians in the region. /End/