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UPDATE: Obama authorizes air strikes to check ISIS offensive

The U.S. has made humanitarian air drops and prepared to give air support to out-gunned Peshmerga, whose recent retreats have left cities and key infrastructure exposed.
Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers stand guard in Ninewa province on Aug. 6, 2014. (STRINGER/Reuters)

ERBIL - U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the American military to conduct air strikes against extremist militants threatening to penetrate Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, after Kurdish forces retreated from several parts of Ninewa province on Thursday, leaving cities and key infrastructure exposed.

"To stop the advance on Erbil, I have directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIS terrorist convoys should they move toward the city," Obama said in a televised address from the White House Thursday night.

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