US airstrikes on Iraq started on Friday as a warning for extremists advancing towards Erbil
US airstrikes in Iraq started on Friday, to halt the progress of Islamist extremists, and more airstrikes are expected for the weekend. The US has called carriers to suspend flights over Iraq owing to the hazardous situation.
US airstrikes started Friday, with jet fighters hitting artillery of the Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. That is the first of an intended series of strikes designed to halt the progress of Sunni extremists towards the Kurdish capital of Erbil.
According to defense officials, the first strike was a warning, which means US airstrikes will continue if extremists stop their attacks. It is not possible to predict the duration of the US campaign, but more airstrikes are expected this weekend.
Friday’s strikes were the first since the Thursday authorization by US President Obama of military actions against Islamic forces in northern Iraq. In the Kurdish capital there are US diplomatic and military officials who are aiding the Kurds. General Lloyd Austin, head of US Central Command, has been given free reign on the choice of targets. According to President Obama, the US airstrikes must be started to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from raging, by stopping militants from reaching the capital Erbil, and to protect American staff in the area.
In addition to launching airstrikes, the US continued to insist for the formation of a new government in Iraq, which they underline is the must-have basis for establishing stability in the country.
The initial aid in the form of food and water supplies dropped has reached the civilians besieged by Islamists. Military officials said assessments are being made of where else in the mountain such aid is needed, and they are waiting to see the effectiveness of the first bundle of aid dropped.
UN Secretary General’s special representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said that the UN is preparing a humanitarian corridor to enable civilians to flee areas of violence.
The airstrikes have heightened the concerns regarding militant advances in Iraq with areas thus far considered safe being seized by extremists. Before Friday, the US withheld any military involvement, deeming it sufficient to urge Iraqi authorities to form the new government which would be more effective in coping with militants, who are a spinoff of al Qaeda.
The militants have taken over the Mosul Dam, which is the country’s largest dam, and is the main electricity source and watery supply for Mosul and its area. The seizure of the dam is a huge advantage for the Islamic State militants, as it could flood whole cities and even deluge Baghdad, although the capital is 300 miles away.
In the past days, extremists have renewed their advance, now against Kurdish controlled territories. As US officials said on Thursday, they received a formal plea for assistance. The return to military actions in Iraq is a reversal for Obama. It was his opposition to the war and promise to end it that aided his presidential campaign. As the US President acknowledged on Thursday, there was a domestic divergence on the renewal of military involvement in Iraq. But he emphasized that there will be no US combat troops fighting there, as the Iraqi crisis could not be solved by American military action. But some Congress members are of the opinion that there might be need for further US action in Iraq.
On Friday the US government said flights over Iraqi territory should be suspended, owing to the potential hazards of the ravaging armed conflict.
