US CONDUCTS AIR STRIKE IN IRAQ
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 8:16 am
Brett LoGiurato
BusinessInsider.com
A U.S. military aircraft conducted a strike in Iraq against artillery held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby wrote on Twitter Friday morning.
"U.S. military aircraft conduct strike on ISIL artillery. Artillery was used against Kurdish forces defending Erbil, near U.S. personnel," Kirby wrote.
President Barack Obama said in a statement from the White House Thursday night that he had authorized the use of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq to protect threatened American personnel and help Iraqi forces in the country's Kurdish region. He emphasized any airstrikes would be part of a targeted, limited campaign.
Kirby said in a statement that the operation was conducted at approximately 6:45 a.m. ET. Two F-18 fighter aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near the Kurdish capital of Erbil. The decision to strike was made by the U.S. Central Command commander in Iraq under the authorization granted by Obama.
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