IRAQ PRAISES US AIR STRIKES AGAINST IS FORCES

The U.S. launches two waves of aerial attacks against IS militants. (Photo: Aero Space Web)

Erbil, Iraq, 13 Shawwal 1435/9 August 2014 (MINA) – Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has welcomed United States air strikes against Islamic State forces in northern Iraq.

Speaking in Erbil on Friday, he said: “The main purpose of these operations is for the hundreds of thousands displaced people to return to their homes and live in peace.”

The U.S. launched two waves of aerial attacks on Friday against IS militants, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Zebari said the U.S. air support would be limited and that the U.S. is the first country to support Iraqi forces militarily against IS forces.

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The US military has conducted air strikes against Islamic State fighters near the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, the US Defence Department has said, Al Jazeera report.

A Pentagon statement said two F/A-18 warplanes dropped 225 kilograms of laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece which “[the Islamic State] was using … to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil where US personnel are located.”

Later on Friday, the US military said it had conducted two additional air strikes to help defend the city where US personnel are assisting the government of Iraq.

“A remotely piloted aircraft struck a terrorist mortar position. When Islamic State fighters returned to the site moments later, the terrorists were attacked again and successfully eliminated,” the Pentagon said.

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According to the statement, in the third attack, four F/A-18 aircraft successfully struck a stationary Islamic State convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position near Erbil.

“The aircraft executed two planned passes. On both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser-guided bomb making a total of eight bombs dropped on target neutralising the mortar and convoy,” the Pentagon said.

Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf, reporting from Erbil, said: “Fighters have captured US-made weapons as Kurdish troops withdrew from various regions. Washington also wants to address that.”

US President Barack Obama had on Thursday authorised air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq. (T/P09/E01)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)