Hot News: US fighter jets hit ISIS artillery with 500-pound bombs in Iraq: Pentagon

NEW DELHI - The Pentagon says two U.S. fighter jets dropped bombs on Islamic militants in Iraq towing artillery outside Irbil near U.S. personnel.

Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby says two F/A-18 jets dropped 500-pound bombs on a piece of artillery and the truck towing it.

President Barack Obama authorized such airstrikes Thursday when the Islamic state militant group advanced on Irbil, in northeaster Iraq, where U.S. military trainers are stationed.

Ahead of the reported bombing, Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdish officials on Friday welcomed Obama's decision to authorize U.S. airstrikes if necessary and airdrop humanitarian aid into northern Iraq to counter advancing Sunni militants and the threat they pose to Americans as well as Iraqi civilians.

Obama said Thursday the humanitarian airdrops were made at the request of the Iraqi government as the Islamic State tightened its grip on northern Iraq.

The militants seized the country's largest hydroelectric dam on Thursday, taking control of enormous power and water resources and leverage over the Tigris River that runs through the heart of Baghdad.

The rush of people expelled from their homes or fleeing violence has exacerbated Iraq's already-dire humanitarian crisis, with some 200,000 Iraqis joining the 1.5 million people already displaced from violence this year.

Post By http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/08/08/u-s-fighter-jets-bomb-isis-militants-in-iraq/