Barack Obama authorised targeted air strikes against militant jihadists on Thursday to assist in protection of civilians
Dan Roberts in Washington and Spencer Ackerman in New York-Friday 8 August 2014Kurdish peshmerga troops participate in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in Makhmur, on the outskirts of the province of Nineveh August 7, 2014 Photograph: Reuters
American warplanes began bombing Islamic militant targets outside the Kurdish city of Irbil on Friday, in the first offensive action by the US in Iraq since it withdrew ground troops in 2011.
Kurdish peshmerga troops participate in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in Makhmur, on the outskirts of the province of Nineveh August 7, 2014 Photograph: Reuters