Pentagon: Iran Carries Out Airstrikes in Iraq | WPN World People News

The U.S. military says Iranian fighter jets have carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said Tuesday the U.S. believes the strikes are Iran's first against the militants, who captured large areas of northern and western Iraq earlier this year. Some Iranian forces were already involved in fighting on the ground in Iraq.

Kirby said the U.S. is not coordinating with Iran, and that it is up to Iraq to make sure there are not conflicts in its air space.

The U.S. has been leading a coalition carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq since August. Both the U.S. and Iran have said that Iran will not be a part of that group.

In another effort, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to lead a ministerial-level meeting of 60 coalition partners Wednesday in Brussels to discuss political efforts to combat the militants.

Meanwhile, security officials say the Lebanese military has detained a wife and child of Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The officials say the woman and child are being held and questioned at Lebanon's defense ministry, after being detained about 10 days ago near the border with Syria while carrying fake identification cards.

Baghdadi has led the Islamic State since 2010 and the group has seized large pieces of territory in eastern Syria and northern Iraq. The United States has declared him a global terrorist and offered a bounty of up to $10 million.

Source: Voice of America