US Launches Air Strike Campaign on Islamic State Militants in Northern Iraq

US President Barack Obama talks about the humanitarian relief situation in Iraq, at the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington.(Reuters)

The US military has launched air strikes against militants of the Islamic State in northern Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby tweeted: "US military aircraft conduct strike on Isil artillery. Artillery was used against Kurdish forces defending Erbil, near US personnel."

Rudaw, the leading news source on Kurdish affairs, said that US fighter jets had struck positions in the districts of Gwer and Makhmur in coordination with Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

According to the news outlet, the strikes killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters and wounded more. However, this could not be independently verified.

US military aircraft conduct strike on ISIL artillery. Artillery was used against Kurdish forces defending Erbil, near US personnel.

— Rear Adm. John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) August 8, 2014

US President Barack Obama yesterday authorised airstrikes against the Islamic militants to prevent the slaughter of religious minorities and to protect US interests in the region. Approximately 150 US advisers are situated in the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

"To stop the advance on Erbil, I've directed our military to take targeted strikes against Isis [IS] terrorist convoys should they move toward the city," he said in a speech at the White House.

"The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces."

BREAKING: Rudaw reporter: Hundreds of #IS fighters killed and wounded in US airstrikes in #Gwer.

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) August 8, 2014

The group have grand ambitions of extending their caliphate across the Middle East and forcing their radical ideology onto those of other faiths. Those who do not convert to their form of radical Islam have been summarily executed, imprisoned and chased out of their homes.

Nearly 100,000 Christians have been forced out of Qaraqosh - Iraq's biggest Christian town - by the group while the Yazidi Kurds face a humanitarian crisis after 200,000 fleed the town of Sinjar, 50,000 into the barren Sinjar mountains at risk of starvation and dehydration.

In June, IS captured large swathes of northern Iraq such as the cities of Mosul and Tikrit and now have their sights set on Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region.