US conducts airstrikes to support Iraqi forces near Baghdad

The United States has taken the first step in its expanded fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, going to the aid of Iraqi security forces near Baghdad who were being attacked by enemy fighters.

The US Central Command said it conducted two air strikes on Sunday and yesterday in support of the Iraqi forces near Sinjar and south-west of Baghdad.

The strikes represent the newly broadened mission authorised by US president Barack Obama to go on the offensive against the Islamic State group wherever it is.

Previous US air strikes in Iraq were conducted to protect US interests and personnel, assist Iraqi refugees and secure critical infrastructure. These strikes were in direct support of Iraqi forces fighting the militants.

Central Command said the strikes destroyed six IS vehicles and one of the group’s fighting positions that was firing on the Iraqi security forces.

US officials said the Iraqi forces requested assistance when they came under fire from militants.

Meanwhile, a supporter of Islamic State militants has warned of attacks on the US and its allies if they continue to carry out military action against the group, the SITE monitoring service said.

The message on a well-known militant Islamist online forum is one of the few responses from supporters of Islamic State to Washington's announcement last week that it was prepared to extend airstrikes against the group into Syria.

The posting on the Minbar Jihadi Media website condemned “intervention in the affairs of other peoples” and said it would trigger an equal response.

“It will lead to an equal reaction of the same strength in targeting the American depth and also the nations allied to it and in all aspects,“ the message said in a translation from Arabic, according to SITE, which tracks militant forums.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday he had personally rejected an offer from the US for talks to fight Islamic State.

“I saw no point in cooperating with a country whose hands are dirty and intentions murky,” the Iranian leader said in quotes carried on state news agency IRNA. He accused Washington of “lying” by saying it had excluded Iran from its coalition, countering that it was Iran that had refused to participate.

World powers meeting in Paris yesterday gave public backing to military action to fight Islamic State fighters in Iraq. Iran, the principal ally of Islamic State’s main foes in both Iraq and Syria, was not invited to the Paris meeting.

The countries that did attend - while supporting action in Iraq - made no mention at all of Syria, where US diplomats face a far tougher task building an alliance for action.

Iran sponsors the governments of both Iraq and Syria and has been at the centre of defences against Islamic State in both countries. Iran has occasionally played down its conflicts with the West since President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, was elected last year.

Mr Khamenei’s intervention, including his statement that some Iranian officials welcomed the US overture, was a rare public acknowledgment of division but also a reminder that powerful interests in Iran oppose a wider thaw.

At yesterday's international conference in Paris, the five UN Security Council permanent members, Turkey, European and Arab states and representatives of the EU, Arab League and United Nations all pledged to help Baghdad fight Islamic State.

The conference was an important vote of confidence for the new Iraqi government formed last week, led by a member of Iraq’s Shi’ite majority, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and also including minority Sunnis and Kurds in important jobs.