US continues bombing ISIL targets in northern Iraq, Pentagon says

"The US military continued to attack ISIL targets near Irbil today conducting two additional airstrikes to help defend the city where US personnel are assisting the government of Iraq,” he said in a statement on Friday.

"Shortly after 10 a.m. EDT, remotely piloted aircraft struck a terrorist mortar position. When ISIL fighters returned to the site moments later, the terrorists were attacked again and successfully eliminated.”

“Four F/A-18 aircraft successfully struck a stationary ISIL convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position near Irbil. The aircraft executed two planned passes. On both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser-guided bomb making a total of eight bombs dropped on target neutralizing the mortar and convoy," Kirby said.

The first round of the US air attacks was conducted earlier on Friday. Two F/A-18 combat jets flew from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf.

The aircraft dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a “mobile artillery piece” near Irbil.

The United States says it hit the ISIL group after the Takfiris shelled Kurdish forces defending Irbil, where US personnel are stationed.

Meanwhile, the White House said it will provide more military support to the Iraqi government once a new “inclusive” government is formed in the country.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday that his country also has a goal "related to our belief and commitment to supporting integrated Iraqi security forces and Kurdish security forces as they unite the country to repel the threat."

HK