Congress weighs arming rebels

The American military's Central Command announced on Monday that it had conducted airstrikes near Sinjar and southwest of Baghdad. The bombings are the first following US President Obama's expanded military response to the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) group in Iraq and Syria.

"US military forces continued to attack ISIL (IS) terrorists in Iraq, employing attack and fighter aircraft to conduct two airstrikes Sunday and Monday in support of Iraqi security forces near Sinjar and southwest of Baghdad," Central Command's statement said. ISIL - sometimes also written ISIS - was the previous name claimed by "IS."

The US began airstrikes against IS positions, mostly in northern Iraq, last month; Monday's announcement was seen as an indicator that the mission was expanding in scope.

Congress presses forward on arming rebels

Part of the expanded scope includes plans to arm moderate Syrian rebels so they can fight IS on the ground in Syria. On Monday, #link:17922307:world leaders from 30 countries met in Paris and agreed to combat IS in Iraq and Syria, but no mention was made of specific combat plans to tackle the jihadist group.

Republicans in the US Congress are to meet on Tuesday to try and gain support for an amendment to a spending bill that would authorize the Pentagon to take action needed to arm the moderate Syrian rebels. Some lawmakers have expressed concern that it would be difficult to discern the moderate rebels from more extreme factions fighting in Syria's civil war, especially given alliances that change quickly.

A vote on the measure is expected this week, as lawmakers are expected to head out on the campaign trail ahead of mid-term elections at the beginning of November.

mz/cd (AFP, AP)