US continues airstrikes in northern Iraq

Three checkpoints, one armed personnel carrier, one Humvee, two armed trucks, and another Islamic State truck were destroyed, according to the U.S. Central Command. A fourth checkpoint was damaged during the airstrikes. They were carried out from roughly 5:10 p.m. GMT to 8:30 p.m. GMT by U.S. fighter jets. An additional Islamic State checkpoint was damaged in a strike. U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the U.S. military to carry out airstrikes on the Islamic State last week in support of U.S. personnel in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, and forces in Iraq. On Saturday, President Obama warned it was "going to take some time" to help stabilize Iraq in the face of the insurgency. The violence in Iraq escalated in early June after a coalition of armed groups linked to the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces. The Iraqi army has staged military operations against IS-led militants. Over a million civilians have been displaced so far amid the ongoing clashes in the north and west of the country.