U.S. strikes Islamic State near key Iraqi dam

BAGHDAD, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The United States launched airstrikes Saturday night in an effort to halt the Islamic State from seizing the Haditha Dam in Iraq.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the attacks on Sunni militants nearing the dam were upon request from Iraq.

The crucial dam, located on the Euphrates River about 175 miles from Baghdad, controls water for millions of people in Iraq. Iraqi officials worry if militants take control of the dam, they could control the electricity supply it provides and cause massive flooding to areas downstream.

U.S. President Barack Obama last month authorized U.S. airstrikes against IS — also known as ISIS and ISIL — militants to end the siege on the Yazidi population and protect U.S. citizens in Erbil.

"I think the strikes the United States took are very much in line with what President Obama said were the guiding principles of military action in Iraq," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said of Saturday's strikes.

"We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam," Kirby said. They "were conducted under authority to protect U.S. personnel and facilities, support humanitarian efforts, and support Iraqi forces that are acting in furtherance of these objectives."

IS fighters had captured a portion of another critical dam — the Mosul Dam — last month, but Kurdish fighters reclaimed it after a series of U.S. airstrikes.