US aircraft launched an air strike against militants from the Islamic State group in Iraq. The Pentagon said, American aircraft attacked artillery that was being used in northern Iraq against Kurdish forces defending the city of Irbil.

President Barack Obama authorized air strikes yesterday but said he would not send US troops back to Iraq.

The Sunni Muslim group IS, formerly known as ISIS, now has control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria. In June, IS took control of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and advanced south towards Baghdad.