{{The US military has attacked Islamic State positions in the besieged northern Iraqi town of Amerli and airdropped humanitarian aid to civilians trapped there, the Pentagon has said.}}
US aircraft delivered over a hundred bundles of emergency supplies and more aid was dropped from British, French and Australian planes, officials said on Saturday.
Iraqi army and Kurdish forces closed in on Islamic State fighters on Saturday in a push to break the Sunni fighters’ siege of Amerli, which has been surrounded by the fighters for more than two months.
US jets and drones have also attacked the Islamic State group’s positions near Iraq’s Mosul Dam.
In the previous weeks, the US forces have conducted airstrikes in support of Iraqi and Kurdish forces on the ground, fighting against the Islamic State, which controls large areas in Syria and Iraq.
Commenting on the airstrikes on Amerli, John Kirby, the US department of defence spokesman, said on Sunday that President Barack Obama authorised the “limited” military operation to prevent an Islamic State attack on the town and to enable an aid drop to those in the town.
In Amerli, thousands of Shia Turkmen have been cut off from food and water for nearly two months besieged by Islamic State fighters.
Residents, who are in danger because of their faith and their resistance to the armed group, have vowed to kill themselves rather than risk capture by the group.
Kirby said the aid came at the request of the Iraqi government and that the US military conducted the raids to support the aid delivery, media reported.
The strikes come as Iraq launched a major operation to liberate the besieged town, with support from armed Shia Muslims. The media reported that Kurdish peshmerga were also involved in the operation.
aljazeera
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