"The president has not laid out a specific end date," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest during a Friday press briefing, explaining that continued US bombing runs will depend on the security situation in the war-ravaged nation.

"We're going to sort of take this approach in which those kind of decisions are evaluated regularly and are driven by the security situation on the ground as it relates to the safety and security of American personnel but also as it relates to supporting the ongoing efforts of both Kurdish security forces and Iraqi security forces," Earnest said.

Washington announced earlier that it struck ISIL position after the foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists shelled Kurdish forces defending the city of Irbil, where American forces are reportedly engaged in training local security troops.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby announced Friday the the United States launched a second round of airstrikes against ISIL terrorists in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
"The US military continued to attack ISIL targets near Irbil today conducting two additional airstrikes to help defend the city where US personnel are assisting the government of Iraq,” he said in a Friday statement.

"Shortly after 10 a.m. EDT, remotely piloted aircraft struck a terrorist mortar position. When ISIL fighters returned to the site moments later, the terrorists were attacked again and successfully eliminated,” the statement added.

The first round of the US air attacks was conducted earlier on Friday, when Two F/A-18 combat jets took off from American aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf.

MB/MB