U.S. said to dispatch 100 missions a day over Iraq

The U.S. Navy and Air Force are flying as many as 100 attack and reconnaissance missions daily over Iraq, according to a U.S. military official.

They include as many as 30 daily missions by Air Force refueling tankers, according to the official, who asked not to be identified before the information is announced. The sorties are mostly, but not exclusively, over northern Iraq.

Since Aug. 8, U.S. aircraft have been attacking mortar positions, mobile artillery, convoy vehicles and armored personnel carriers under President Barack Obama's authorization for air strikes against Islamic militants to protect religious minorities and American personnel in Erbil, the seat of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

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