After first airstrikes, US drops new aid to thousands of Iraqis fleeing militant advance

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — After unleashing its first airstrikes against militants of the Islamic State group in northern Iraq, the U.S. has made a second airdrop to thousands who have fled the group’s advance and find themselves trapped on a mountaintop.

The Pentagon says three planes dropped 72 bundles of supplies for the refugees, members of the Yazidi religious minority. Included in the aid were more than 28,000 meals and more than 1,500 gallons of water.

Iraqi officials say the militants have seized hundreds of Yazidi women, citing reports from the victims’ families.

Yesterday, U.S. forces launched two rounds of airstrikes against militant forces. Two F/A-18 jets dropped 500-pound bombs on a piece of artillery and the truck towing it. The Pentagon says the militants were using the artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, and home to a U.S. consulate and about three dozen U.S. military trainers.

%@AP Links

087-c-17-(Vivian Salama (sah-LAH’-mah), AP correspondent)-“airstrikes taking place”-AP correspondent Vivian Salama reports that although it hasn’t been confirmed, further airstrikes appear to be taking place on militants near the city of Irbil. (9 Aug 2014)

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086-c-20-(Vivian Salama (sah-LAH’-mah), AP correspondent)-“the Sinjar mountains”-AP correspondent Vivian Salama reports the U.S. has launched a new airdrop to aid thousands of members of an Iraqi minority group who fled the advance of the Islamic State group. (9 Aug 2014)

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088-c-16-(Vivian Salama (sah-LAH’-mah), AP correspondent)-“homes and schools”-AP correspondent Vivian Salama reports extremists have captured hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority, and are holding many of them in the occupied city of Mosul. (9 Aug 2014)

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001-w-36-(Sagar Meghani (SAH’-gur meh-GAH’-nee), AP national security correspondent, with retired Army Colonel Peter Mansoor, Iraq veteran and author of ‘Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War’)–The U.S. opened its air campaign over Iraq with a series of strikes on militant targets. AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon. (9 Aug 2014)

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002-w-36-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with Josh Earnest, White House press secretary)–President Obama is monitoring the U.S. air campaign in Iraq closely — but aides say he’s not micromanaging it. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (9 Aug 2014)

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Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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