US airstrikes begin in Iraq, officials thank Obama

The United States has launched airstrikes against the forces of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq, the Pentagon announced today.

Two American planes attacked artillery forces fighting the Kurds who are defending the city of Irbil, the BBC reports.

Two f/a-18 planes dropped about 230 kilograms of laser-guided bombs on artillery positions near Erbil, the Pentagon said, citing Reuters.

Previously, US President Barack Obama authorized limited airstrikes in Iraq.

"I have authorized targeted strikes if necessary to assist Iraqi forces struggling to protect besieged civilians," Obama said in a televised address from the White House late last night.

He said that the US can act, responsibly and cautiously, to prevent a possible genocide, and added that he has also authorized the airdrop of food to the population threatened by the advance of Sunni extremists.

Obama said that American military planes, at the request of the Iraqi government, have already delivered humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of members of religious minorities in Iraq, who are surrounded by extremists and are in dire need of food and water.

The US president has warned the extremists that they will face military strikes if they move towards Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Yesterday, the US sent food and water by parachute to thousands of Iraqis threatened by members of the Islamic State in Sinjar, a place where the Yazidi minority lives.

Obama said that the US will not allow itself to be drawn into a new war in Iraq, and that it will not send ground troops, two and a half years after the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

Kurdish officials welcomed the US decision while the UN Security Council condemned attacks by Islamic extremists in the country.

Barack Obama authorized limited airstrikes in Iraq to protect US personnel and aid Iraqi forces. In his address to the nation tonight, Obama said the US will do whatever it takes to protect its people.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also welcomed Obama's decision.

By the way, on June 29, the Islamic State announced that it had established an Islamic caliphate on the territory of Syria and Iraq. They have imposed strict Sharia law in the areas they control, threatening to kill anyone who disobeys it.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials thank Obama for help

Iraqi and Kurdish officials today welcomed the US decision to authorize airlifts and airstrikes in northern Iraq to counter radical Sunni extremists.

In recent days, fighters of the extremist Islamic State have captured several cities in the north of the country, forcing members of minorities to flee to the nearby desert mountains. The attack is believed to have displaced around 200.000 people, many of whom are in the mountains without food or water.

"We thank Barack Obama," said Khalid Jamal Alber, from the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq, adding that Kurdistan is a place for religious minorities.

The Iraqi Ministry of Displaced Persons also welcomed the announced aid.

UN for a humanitarian corridor to Iraq

The UN has announced that it is working to open a humanitarian corridor in northern Iraq for the evacuation of civilians affected by the offensive of Islamic extremists.

"Since the airstrikes have begun, the UN in Iraq is urgently preparing a humanitarian convoy to evacuate civilians," said Nikolai Mladenov, the UN's special representative in Baghdad, immediately after the first US bombing of Islamist positions.

Mladenov welcomed the cooperation between the Iraqi government, the Kurdish regional government and the international community in an effort to prevent genocide and fight terrorism.

France announced today that it is ready to participate in providing aid to the civilian population in Iraq.

French President Francois Hollande welcomed Obama's decision to authorize targeted airstrikes to stop Islamic State and provide humanitarian aid.

Hollande said France would discuss with the US and other allies what actions they could take to jointly provide the help needed to end civilian suffering.

Pope sends cardinal to Iraq

Pope Francis decided today to send Cardinal Fernando Filoni to Iraq, to ​​provide spiritual support to Christians in that country.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church decided today to send Filonius to Iraq, where several tens of thousands of Christians are fleeing from the northern part of the country due to the breakthrough of Sunni extremists from the Islamic State, the Vatican announced.

"The Pope has appointed the former nuncio to Iraq, Cardinal Filoni, as his envoy to provide spiritual support and show the Church's solidarity to the people suffering in Iraq," the brief statement said.

Spokesman Federico Lombardi said Filoni would leave for Iraq "very soon" and that the places he would visit were still being considered. He added that for now it is known that the cardinal will go to Kurdistan, where there are many displaced people.

Filoni is scheduled to meet with archbishops from the region and with representatives of the Iraqi authorities.

The cardinal was nuncio to Iraq and Jordan from 2001 to 2006 and was the only foreign representative to remain in Baghdad during the US military intervention that began in 2003 against the regime of then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Vatican criticized that intervention.

An estimated 100.000 Christians have fled Mosul and Qaraqosh, two Iraqi cities where Christians make up the majority of the population.

Banned US commercial flights over Iraq

The US Federal Aviation Agency has banned all commercial flights over Iraq, where the US carried out its first airstrikes today.

As the main reason for the ban, the agency cited "a potentially dangerous situation due to armed conflicts between the extremists of the Islamic State and the Iraqi security forces."

The ban is valid until further notice, the statement added.

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