15 militants killed, 7 injured, and aid given to those stuck above IS groups are all the success stories from the two days of air strikes by the US in Iraq
The U.S. has already begun airstrikes against ISIS positions near the Kurdish capital of Erbil. As the crisis in Iraq continues to deteriorate, President Barack Obama has allowed for humanitarian aid drops for Iraq's beleaguered minorities as well as limited air strikes against advancing ISIS forces.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has made gains in Iraq, causing ethnic and religious minorities to flee the the mountains, where they face starvation and dehydration.
The site believed to be the burial location of Jonah, who is known in Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions as being swallowed by a whale before becoming a prophet for God, was reportedly desecrated after Islamic extremists planted explosives around the tomb.
Kurdish forces have taken over Iraqi oil fields, adding to the already tense situation in Baghdad. Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurds took over two oil fields in Baghdad amid a dispute with the government Friday.
Tensions in Iraq rise. A U. S. official confirmed to CNN on Friday that armed drones have started flying over Baghdad in the last 24 hours to provide extra protection to the 180 U.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has taken a bipartisan approach to the escalating violence in Iraq, questioning the decisions of the George W. Bush administration that led troops to the second Iraq war.
Sunni ISIS militants seized two border towns in Iraq on Saturday. Sunni jihadists captured two strategically located towns in Iraq's western Anbar province Saturday as government forces and armed Shiite militiamen failed to stave off the militants.
