Obama vows to continue Iraq air strikes 'if necessary'

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Saturday vowed to continue air strikes against militants in Iraq if needed to protect US diplomats and military advisors.

Speaking in his weekly address, Obama said that he had authorized the strikes in Iraq to protect US personnel serving in the northern city of Arbil.

"And, if necessary, that´s what we will continue to do," he said.The president was due to speak about the situation once again during an address at 10:25 am (1425 GMT) on the South Lawn of the White House before he leaves for his summer vacation at Martha´s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Obama said he had also authorized a "humanitarian effort" to help displaced civilians trapped by Islamic State extremists on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.

The United States has a strategic interest in halting the militants´ advances, but Obama stressed that it would not serve as "the air force of Iraqi Shiites or any other faction."

"We do have a strategic interest in pushing back ISIL," Obama said in an interview with The New York Times, using the group´s former name Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "We´re not going to let them create some caliphate through Syria and Iraq, but we can only do that if we know that we´ve got partners on the ground who are capable of filling the void."