Obama authorizes airstrikes, airdrops of aid in Iraq

US President Barack Obama said Thursday that he has authorized targeted airstrikes and airdrops of aid in Iraq amid a humanitarian crisis.

Obama said in a speech that he authorized airstrikes "if necessary" against Islamic militants, who have advanced into the Kurdish region of Iraq and seized the country's largest dam Thursday.

The president also announced that the US launched airdrops of food and water on a mountain top in northern Iraq Thursday where a religious minority group remains trapped by Islamic militants.