FINALLY! American airstrikes bring the fight to ISIL

America has unofficially re-entered the Iraq war in a direct role after warplanes stuck Sunni militant positions in northern Iraq on August 8.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Two F-18 fighters dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery target near Erbil, according to Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby. The target was being used to shell Kurdish forces near Erbil.

Your brothers and sisters in Iraq NEED YOUR HELP!

These airstrikes followed President Barack Obama's August 7 announcement that he had authorized limited airstrikes to protect American citizens in Erbil and Baghdad, and possibly tens of thousands of refugees who are stranded on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.

"As the president made clear, the United States military will continue to take direct action against [the Islamic State] when they they threaten our personnel and facilities," said Kirby.

Kurdish officials said that the American airstrikes struck in and around Makhmour, a town near Erbil. Kurdish fighters, known as pesh merga, have been engaged in fighting with the Islamic State since July,  and Islamic State fighters have captured numerous towns in the area, and the Mosul Dam, one of Iraq's most important installations.

"The airstrikes are being led by the U.S.A., and the pesh merga are attacking with Katyusha [rockets]," said Halgurd Hekmat, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters.

Many members of religious minorities in northern Iraq have fled to Kurdish controlled territory to escape the advancing militants who impose harsh fundamentalist laws in areas they have occupied. Others, including tens of thousands of Christians and Zoroastrianism have been trapped on a mountain and require immediate humanitarian assistance.

Britain made a statement that they would not resume military action with the U.S. but would provide humanitarian aid and technical assistance.

"What we have decided today is to assist the United States in the humanitarian operations that started yesterday," said Michael Fallon, the British defense secretary. "We are offering technical assistance in that, in terms of refueling and surveillance. We are offering aid of our own, which we hope to drop over the next couple of days in support of the American relief effort, particularly to help the plight of those who are trapped on the mountain."

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