US continues hitting ISIL targets, providing humanitarian aid

Washington: The US has continued with its two-pronged mission in Iraq, hitting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets and providing humanitarian aid to thousands of people stranded on Mount Sinjar.

US military forces successfully conducting air-strikes on four ISIL checkpoints and multiple ISIL vehicles near Mt Sinjar in defense of internally displaced Yazidi civilians in the area, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday.

American fighter aircraft struck and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint southwest of Mt Sinjar.

At the same location, US fighter aircraft struck an armed personnel carrier and an armed truck, destroying both. They also struck and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint south of the city of Sinjar and struck an armed truck and a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, destroying both.

US fighter aircraft struck another ISIL checkpoint southeast of the city of Sinjar and damaged it and later struck another ISIL checkpoint east of the Sinjar Mountain and destroyed it and an adjacent ISIL truck, the Pentagon said.

On Monday, the US military conducted a fifth airdrop of food and water for thousands of Iraqi citizens threatened by ISIL on Mt Sinjar.

One C-17 and three C-130 cargo aircraft together dropped a total of 76 bundles of supplies. The C-17 dropped 40 container delivery system bundles of fresh drinking water totalling 3,804 gallons.

In addition, the three C-130s dropped 36 bundles totalling 11,088 meals ready to eat and 1,331 gallons of fresh drinking water.

So far, US military aircraft have delivered more than 85,000 meals and more than 20,000 gallons of fresh drinking water, providing much-needed aid to the displaced Yazidis, who urgently require emergency assistance.

Earlier in the day, Lt Gen William Mayville, Director of Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the urgency of the crisis has not gone away.

"It is very important that we find a solution for those that are stranded up there," he said.

"We need to continue to sustain the humanitarian assistance, and we need to be able to protect that effort. With regards to the targets, one of the things that we have seen with the ISIL forces is that where they have been in the open, they are now starting to dissipate and to hide amongst the people," he said in response to a question.