WASHINGTON D.C. (AA) - U.S. airforce Thursday hit two armed vehicles and a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle of Islamic State militants in Erbil, northern Iraq. According to a statement from the U.S. Central Command -- CENTCOM -- the air strikes were carried out by "a mix of fighter and remotely piloted aircrafts."
Armed groups linked to the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, captured Iraq's Sinjar and Rabia in the Nineveh province late July after fierce clashes, forcing thousands of Iraqis including Turkmen, Arabs and Ezidis to flee. The U.S. has been hitting IS targets since U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the military to carry out airstrikes early August in support of U.S. personnel in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, and forces in Iraq.