Obama authorizes air strikes in Iraq

US President Obama has authorized airstrikes against Sunni Muslim extremists who pushed through Kurdish defenses in a powerful offensive in northern Iraq yesterday, and has sent U.S. military aircraft to drop food and water to besieged Iraqi civilians in the region.

Obama announced that strikes would be launched against extremist convoys “should they move toward” the Kurdish capital of Irbil, where the US has a consulate and a joint operations center with the Iraqi military.

A humanitarian crisis is emerging as thousands of families from the Yazidi minority are reportedly trapped in the mountains without food, water or medical care after fleeing the rampaging fighters of the Islamic State, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS.

The President's announcement that he'd authorized airstrikes came after American forces airdropped meals and water for the trapped minority group.

The potential escalation of military involvement comes two years after Obama ended the Iraq war and pulled American forces out of the country.

A White House spokesman said yesterday that there is no chance of ground troops heading back.