Iraq live: Pentagon confirms US airstrikes against Islamic militants

9.40 am: US bans civilian flights over Iraq

The Federal Aviation Administration banned all US civilian flights over Iraq, just hours after the airstrikes, according to AFP.

In a Notice to Airmen, the FAA cited the “potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict” between Islamic State militants and Iraqi security forces and their allies as the reason for the indefinite ban.

The ban extends to “all US air carriers and commercial operators,” as well as US-licensed pilots unless they are flying aircraft registered in the United States for a foreign operator. Northern and eastern Iraq lie on the flight path for several non-American long-haul carriers operating between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, according to online flight tracking services.

9.33 am: US military planes drop food and water to fleeing Iraqi civilians

US military planes dropped containers with water and tens of thousands of meals to civilians fleeing jihadist violence in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

AFP reported that three cargo planes escorted by two F/A-18 combat jets dropped the supplies, which were intended “for thousands of Iraqi citizens threatened by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Mount Sinjar, Iraq,” the Pentagon said.

The cargo planes - a C-17 and two C-130s - together dropped a total of 72 bundles of supplies, which included 28,224 individually packaged meals and 16 bundles containing 1,522 gallons of fresh drinking water.

The combat jets were from the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier, the statement read.

End of updates for 8 August

7.38 pm: UK asks Britons in Kurdistan to ’leave now’

The Foreign Office on Friday urged Britons in the Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk provinces of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region to “leave now” following attacks by extremists.

The travel advice, which was issued before US jets struck jihadist positions near the city of Arbil, does not extend to the Kurdish capital itself, an spokeswoman said.

In an updated guidance, the Foreign Office advised against all travel to those areas of the Kurdistan region affected by fighting following attacks by jihadist militants this week.

“If you’re currently in these areas you should leave now,” it said.

The Foreign Office also advised against all travel to Anbar, Nineveh, Salah Al-Din and Diyala provinces and all of the area south of Kirkuk City limits.

“Those British nationals already present in the Kurdistan region should take precautions to remove themselves from areas close to the conflict,” it said, warning that the situatikon could “deteriorate quickly”.

For the rest of Iraq, London advises against all but essential travel.

7.35 pm: US conducts airstrikes against Islamic militants

According to AFP two US aircraft on Friday bombed Islamic State extremist positions in northern Iraq after artillery fire near US personnel, the Pentagon said.

The raid — the most significant since the United States withdrew from Iraq — came a day after President Barack Obama authorized force as he voiced fears of genocide against minorities.

Two US F/A-18 aircraft dropped 500-pound (225-kilogram) laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece near the Kurdish region’s capital of Arbil, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby. The United States bombed the position after Islamist fighters shelled Kurdish forces defending Arbil, where US personnel are stationed, he said.

The strike, carried out at 1045 GMT, targeted the Sunni Muslim extremist movement Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that has swept across Syria and Iraq.

“As the president made clear, the United States military will continue to take direct action against ISIL when they threaten our personnel and facilities,” Kirby said in a statement.

1:46 pm: Kerry says Obama made the right decision to conduct air strikes

US secretary of state John Kerry said that President Obama is right to authorise airstrikes against ISIL militants and stressed on the need for an inclusive government in Iraq.

“He has been equally clear, as I have on my visit to Iraq and in all my conversations with Iraqi and regional leaders, that the only durable way to stop ISIL is for Iraq’s real leaders to unite and form an inclusive government as rapidly as possible within their own constitutional framework, including the selection of a prime minister,” Kerry said in a statement.

“Only ISIL wins if Iraqi political leaders avoid making tough choices rapidly to tip the balance in favor of inclusive and effective governance,” he added.

1:15 pm: UK welcomes US strikes in Iraq but rules out own action

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday expressed his deep concern about the situation in Iraq and welcomed US President Barack Obama’s decision to authorise air strikes against extremists.

But a spokesman for Cameron’s Downing Street office said Britain, which joined the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was not planning its own military intervention.

“I am extremely concerned by the appalling situation in Iraq and the desperate situation facing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,” Cameron said in a statement.

“And I utterly condemn the barbaric attacks being waged by ISIL (ISIS, now Islamic State) terrorists across the region.”

He added: “I welcome President Obama’s decision to accept the Iraqi government’s request for help and to conduct targeted US airstrikes, if necessary, to help Iraqi forces as they fight back against ISIL terrorists to free the civilians trapped on Mount Sinjar.

“And I fully agree with the president that we should stand up for the values we believe in – the right to freedom and dignity, whatever your religious beliefs.”

However, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “We are not planning a military intervention.”

Cameron said he was especially concerned for members of the minority Yazidi community who fled Sunni extremist fighters and are now trapped on Mount Sinjar.

“They fear slaughter if they descend back down the slopes but face starvation and dehydration if they remain on the mountain,” he said.

“The world must help them in their hour of desperate need.”

He said officials had been tasked with establishing what help Britain can provide, including to civilians requiring food, water and shelter in the Sinjar area.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will chair a meeting Friday of the government’s emergency Cobra committee on the situation in Iraq.

9:00 am: Will support new govt in Iraq, says US defence secy Hagel

US defence secretary Chuck Hagel confirmed that US had provided humanitarian assistance to Iraqis in the north where the military conducted air drops, and said US is prepared to strike ISIL.

“The US military will also remain ready to conduct targeted airstrikes, if necessary, to help forces in Iraq fighting to break the siege of Mount Sinjar and protect Iraqi civilians trapped there,” Hagel said in a statement.

“Department of Defense personnel in Iraq therefore continue to assess opportunities to help train, advise, and assist Iraqi forces, and will provide increased support once Iraq has formed a new government,” he added.

8:37 am: US to make more aid drops in Iraq if needed: official

The United States is ready to make further air drops in Iraq after US planes Thursday flew in food and water for some 8,000 beleaguered minorities, an official said.

“If it becomes necessary, we will do another drop,” a US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Another official, briefing reporters after President Barack Obama announced the action, said that United States expected the trapped Yazidi minorities to need further outside support.

“I would expect that need to continue,” he said.

But the second official said that other nations, including Iraq, may be able to carry out future air drops.

8:00 am: Obama authorizes air strikes to prevent Iraq ‘genocide’

President Barack Obama said he had authorized US air strikes on Iraq and humanitarian supply drops to prevent a “genocide” by Islamist extremists against minorities.

“We can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide,” Obama said, referring to the attacks against the besieged Yazidi minority, thousands of whom are trapped on a mountain in northern Iraq.

“I therefore authorized targeted air strikes if necessary to help forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege and protect the civilians trapped there,” Obama said.

The president said US warplanes could also target Islamic State militants if they advance on the city of Arbil, where the US has a diplomatic presence and advisors to Iraqi forces.

“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,” he said.

Obama, who did not say whether any air strikes have been carried out yet, said US forces have already started to drop food and water to Iraqis racing to flee the so-called Islamic State fighters.

“Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, there is no one coming to help. Well, today America is coming to help,” Obama said.

The Pentagon said a US C-17 and two C-130 aircraft escorted by two F/A-18s had dropped thousands of gallons of drinking water and 8,000 packaged meals to the thousands of Yazidis on Mount Sinjar.

The planes stayed over the drop area, at a low altitude, for just 15 minutes, the Pentagon said.

Obama said in a situation like on Mount Sinjar – where innocent people face possible “violence on a horrific scale,” and where Iraq’s government has asked for help – “then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye.”

Obama, who rose to political prominence as an outspoken critic of his predecessor George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, said he was not sending back ground forces.

“As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq.

“And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there is no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq,” he said.

7:12 am: Obama to speak on Iraq: White House

US President Barack Obama is to make a statement on the crisis in Iraq later Thursday, the White House said, after American military planes delivered relief supplies to civilian refugees.

The White House announced the appearance after a senior defense official confirmed reports US planes had dropped aid to members of the Yazidi minority driven from their home by Sunni extremists.

7:00 am: UN Security Council urges world to help Iraqi government

The UN Security Council on Thursday urged governments to help Iraq cope with a humanitarian crisis sparked by a jihadist offensive that has left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on the run.

The 15-nation Council met behind closed doors at UN headquarters in New York, as the United States was weighing action including possible airdrops to trapped civilians.

The Council called on “the international community to support the government and the people of Iraq and to do all it can to help alleviate the suffering of the population,” said a unanimous statement from the 15 members.

Iraqi Ambassador Ali al-Hakim said the meeting focused on the need for urgent relief efforts to help civilians fleeing the violence, but denied reports that air strikes had been carried out against the jihadists.

“There is no strike being done yet,” said Hakim.

“The first item is immediate humanitarian help for Iraq, inside of Iraq. That is immediately requested and it looks like it’s being done right now.”

The Council condemned attacks by Islamic State fighters and expressed “deep outrage” over the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, many from vulnerable minorities, who have been displaced, said the statement read by British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.

The top world body said it welcomed Iraq’s efforts to address the humanitarian crisis and to combat “the terrorist threat” posed by the jihadists, and called for an “intensification of these efforts.”

France, which had called for the urgent meeting, has offered to support forces combating IS fighters, with President Francois Hollande discussing the aid in talks with Kurdish leader Massud Barzani.

IS, which proclaimed a “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq in late June, moved into Iraq’s main Christian town Qaraqosh overnight after the withdrawal of Kurdish peshmerga troops.-AFP