Pentagon Confirms Airstrikes Against ISIS To Break Amerli Seige

The Pentagon late Saturday said it had conducted more airstrikes against Islamic State militants and dropped aid packaged to besieged Turkmen in Amerli, Iraq. The city has been cut off from food, water and medical supplies for two months by the Sunni jihadists, formerly known as ISIS, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement the airstrikes were limited.

"At the request of the government of Iraq, the United States military today [Saturday] airdropped humanitarian aid to the town of Amerli, home to thousands of Shia Turkmen who have been cut off from receiving food, water, and medical supplies for two months by ISIL [ISIS]," the statement said. "The United States Air Force delivered this aid alongside aircraft from Australia, France and the United Kingdom who also dropped much needed supplies."

Earlier, Reuters reported the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces closed in on Islamic State fighters Saturday. Two officers said Iraqi troops, militia and Kurdish peshmerga were advancing from four directions.

In a separate incident a suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives killed at least 11 people at a checkpoint at a northern entrance to the town of Yusifiya, nine miles south of Baghdad.