US President Barack Obama has authorised the US military to make targeted strikes against Islamist militants in northern Iraq, and began an emergency airdrop of water and food to members of a religious minority trapped in the mountains by advancing Islamist militants, US officials said. "I authorized targeted airstrikes if necessary to help forces in Iraq," Mr Obama said in an national address at the White House.
In a telephone interview from Erbil, Falah Mustafa Bakir said Peshmerga retreats in recent days were calculated to protect civilians from indiscriminate attacks and didn't represent a military collapse along the lines of the Iraqi army earlier this summer.
"President Obama considering the airdrop and other military options will be an important show of support," he said. "This is what is needed, especially for people stranded in Sinjar. These people are in dire need of whatever assistance is possible and an airdrop is the only way. We also welcome airstrikes," Mr. Bakir said.
The US troops in Erbil are part of a force of planners and advisers working in joint US-Iraqi centers. Pentagon officials said no US strikes had begun by Thursday evening. An Iraqi military official said the Iraqi air force conducted some airstrikes Thursday.