Iraq: US air strike on Islamic State militants in Iraq

BBC News online -- 8 August 2014

Islamic State fighters have taken control of large parts of northern Iraq since launching an offensive in June

The US says it has launched an air strike against militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq.

The Pentagon said American aircraft attacked artillery that was being used against Kurdish forces defending the northern city of Irbil.

President Barack Obama authorised air strikes on Thursday, but said he would not send US troops back to Iraq.

The Sunni Muslim group IS, formerly known as Isis, now has control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

In June, IS, which was formerly known as Isis, took control of the city of Mosul. Earlier this week, its fighters seized Qaraqosh, Iraq's biggest Christian town.

The advance of IS also forced tens of thousands of people from the Yazidi community - another minority group in northern Iraq - to leave their homes and seek shelter on a nearby mountain.

The United Nations says it is working on opening a humanitarian corridor in northern Iraq to allow stranded people to flee.

Struggle for Iraq: In maps

According to the Pentagon statement, two F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on mobile artillery near Irbil, where US personnel are based.

The air strike is the first time the US has been directly involved in a military operation in Iraq since American troops withdrew in late 2011.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the world needed to wake up to the threat posed by the IS group.
Its "campaign of terror against the innocent, including the Yazidi and Christian minorities, and its grotesque targeted acts of violence show all the warning signs of genocide," he said.

'Carefully and responsibly' Speaking from the White House on Thursday, President Obama said "America is coming to help" the people of Iraq.
He accused IS fighters of attempting the systematic destruction of entire populations.

At the same time, he announced that US military planes had already carried out air drops of food and water, at the request of the Iraqi government, to the many displaced Yazidis who are in need of supplies.

The BBC's Jiyar Gol in Irbil says people there were relieved following President Obama's announcement

Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent Rapid intervention in the north was a special case merited by the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, but how much more support might the Americans give to the Kurds?
Amid all the talk of centrifugal forces in Iraq, the Kurdish north has the greatest degree of autonomy - some would argue it is already half-way out of the door of the Iraqi state.
Such a move would have huge implications for Turkey, Syria and Iran who all have Kurdish minorities.

Marzio Babille, Unicef's representative in Iraq, said the Yazidis were in an extremely precarious situation because of the "very aggressive and brutal" IS militants.
He said there were many "logistical and strategic difficulties", but added that a humanitarian corridor needed to be established.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians have been displaced because of the IS advance

Humanitarian daily rations

72 bundles in first air drop, containing food and water for 8,000 people

• 2,200 Calories worth of food in each daily pack for one person
  
• 2 main courses such as lentil stew or beans with rice
  
• 2 or more snacks such as crackers or flat bread plus peanut butter and jam
  
• Also raisins and/or fruit bar/pastry, condiments, alcohol-free wipe, spoon
  

US Department of Defense

Ameriqual

Back in June, when Isis took over Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki requested US air strikes to halt the militants' advance - but Washington did not intervene.

Analysts say the relentless advance of IS fighters, together with the continuing failure of Iraqi politicians to agree on a new government, after an inconclusive election in April, may have swayed Mr Obama into deciding to act now.

Mr Maliki has faced calls from Sunni Arab, Kurdish and some Shia Arab leaders to step down because of his handling of the crisis.

But as leader of the bloc that won the most seats in April's parliamentary elections, Mr Maliki has demanded the right to attempt to form a governing coalition.

Some reports suggest that he may have been forced to offer assurances that he would step down in return for military assistance from the US.

Iraq's minorities Christians

• The majority are Chaldeans, part of the Catholic Church
• Numbers have fallen from around 1.5 million since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 350,000-450,000
• In Nineveh, they live mainly in towns such as Qaraqosh (also known as Baghdida), Bartella, Al-Hamdaniya and Tel Kef

Yazidis