U.S. F/A-18 Jets Bomb ISIS Artillery In First Airstrike

DEBKAfile  "The US military has begun air strikes against Islamic militant targets in Iraq, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

"Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said aircraft struck artillery being used against Kurdish peshmerga forces defending the Kurdish stronghold of Irbil against fighters with the Islamic State, known as ISIS or IS.

"Two FA-18 jets, launched from the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier in the Gulf, dropped 500lb bombs on what the Pentagon described as a “mobile artillery piece”.
IS was using the artillery to shell Kurdish forces defending Irbil, where US forces are based, the US said. Two US air strikes followed, one by a drone on a mortar position and another by a jet on a vehicle convoy near Irbil, the Kurdish capital."

FUNKER530.com  "The U.S. has officially announced that airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq have commenced, with the dropping of two 500 pound bombs on ISIS artillery firing on Kurds."

"Smoke rises from airstrikes Friday targeting Islamic State militants near the Khazer checkpoint outside of the city of Irbil in northern Iraq."