Taking action ... US President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq at the White House, August 7, 2014. Picture: Charles Dharapak Source: AP
US JETS have struck jihadist positions in northern Iraq, a potential turning point in a two-month crisis Washington said was threatening to result in genocide.
President Barack Obama's order for the first air strikes on Iraq since he put an end to US occupation in 2011 came after Islamic State (IS) militants made massive gains on the ground, seizing a dam and forcing a mass exodus of religious minorities.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, writing on Twitter, said US forces bombed the jihadists after artillery fire against Kurdish regional government forces defending their capital Arbil.
Two US jets hit a mobile artillery piece near Arbil, he said.
Mr Obama ordered US warplanes back into Iraqi skies to stop jihadists from moving into autonomous Kurdistan of northern Iraq and carrying out a potential genocide against displaced minorities.
The planes initially dropped food and water for thousands of people hiding from the Sunni extremist militants in a barren northern mountain range.
Many people who have been cowering in the Sinjar mountains for five days in searing heat and with no supplies are Yazidis, a minority that follows a 4000-year-old faith.
Vigilant ... US President Barack Obama meets with the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House, Auguse 7, 2014. Picture: Pete Souza Source: AP
Mr Obama accused the IS, which calls Yazidis "devil-worshippers", of attempting "the systematic destruction of the entire people, which would constitute genocide".
He also "limited" air strikes because of the jihadist threat to Washington's Kurdish allies, following a lightning advance that saw the Sunni extremists move within striking distance of Arbil.
Panic had begun to grip the Kurdish capital after IS thrust into the Nineveh plains separating their main hub of Mosul and the autonomous territory over the past two days.
"We plan to stand vigilant and take action if they threaten our facilities anywhere in Iraq, including the consulate in Arbil and embassy in Baghdad," Mr Obama said.
Fire power ... US President Barack Obama has authorised air strikes on Iraq and humanitarian supply drops to prevent a "genocide" by Islamist extremists against minorities. Picture: Joshua Card Source: AFP
The Kurdish Peshmerga, short of ammunition and stretched thin along a huge front, have been forced to retreat in the face of brazen assaults by the jihadists.
Their withdrawal from Iraq's Christian heartland on Wednesday and Thursday sparked a mass exodus and spurred Western powers into action.
Obama's announcement came after an emergency UN Security Council meeting called by France, which also offered to support forces battling the jihadists.
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