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The USA has started targeting of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. Several US air have taken out heavy that the Islamic State captured from the Iraqi . President Obama said the new are to protect American in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. IS recently changed its name from ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). The group now controls a of Iraq (including the country's largest dam), and a third of Syria. Mr Obama made it clear that there would be no on the ground. He said: "Even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq."

Another for the air strikes on the IS is to protect Iraq's Yazidi people and other groups. The Yazidis are ethnically Kurdish. Their includes elements of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism. The IS told the Yazidis to convert to Islam, pay a , or face death. Earlier this week the UN warned of a catastrophe with the possibility of cleansing at the hands of the IS. The IS have reportedly taken hundreds of Yazidi women . Obama said the latest US military action is also, "a humanitarian to help save thousands of [Yazidis] who are trapped on a without food and water and facing almost certain ".