The U.S. launched another round of air strikes in northern Iraq on Wednesday despite threats from the Islamic State to execute another American held captive, the BBC reported.
U.S. warplanes dropped 14 strikes on IS vehicles and other targets near the Mosul Dam, which Kurdish troops just recaptured from IS fighters on Monday.
The air strikes came just a day after militants released a horrific video of the beheading of American journalist James Foley, kidnapped in Syria two years ago, as revenge for air strikes the U.S. launched against IS targets earlier this month.
A masked jihadist threatened to kill another American journalist held captive, Steven Sotloff, after killing Foley. Sotloff, a freelance journalist like Foley, was kidnapped in August 2013 near the Syrian-Turkish border, the Associated Press reported.
President Barack Obama said Wednesday the U.S. will continue to battle the Sunni jihadists despite the threats.
"The United States of America will continue to do what they must do to protect our people," Obama said.
In addition to the air strikes, the U.S. might send an additional 300 troops to join the estimated 800 troops that are currently in Iraq, a senior government official told the AP. The extra troops were requested by the State Department to reinforce security in Baghdad, but the decision is waiting final approval from the Pentagon.
A total of 84 air strikes have landed in Iraq since the military operations began on Aug. 8. Officials say the strikes have been instrumental in helping Kurdish forces recapture key areas like Mosul city from the militants who have waged a deadly war across northern Iraq.
Nearly 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced by IS, which formed from al-Qaeda and wants to establish a caliphate, according to the BBC. They have mainly targeted Shi'ite Muslims and religious minorities including ethnic Yazidis and Christians.
