U.S. military

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Nov. 16 the Pentagon will accelerate its mission to train Iraqi forces to combat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, using troops already in Iraq to start the effort while funding is sought for a broader initiative.
  

U.S. air strikes destroyed a convoy of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near the Iraqi city of Mosul but U.S. officials said on Nov. 8 it was unclear whether the group's top commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been in any of the 10 targeted vehicles.

Kurdish forces thwarted a new attempt Oct. 26 by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters to cut off the Syrian town of Kobane from the border with Turkey before Iraqi Kurdish reinforcements can deploy.

The United States told Turkey that a U.S. military air-drop of arms to Syrian Kurds was a response to a 'crisis situation'

Kurdish fighters appeared to control most of the Syrian border town of Kobane Oct. 9 amid continued U.S. air strikes on ISIL jihadists, the U.S. military said

The leader of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed following a US attack earlier this week, the Pentagon has said, Friday.

The U.S. military could move against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria once its militants are determined to have become a direct threat to the U.S. homeland or Europe, but not before, U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey has said.

The U.S. military earlier this summer carried out an attempt to rescue journalist James Foley and other American hostages held in Syria, a U.S. official said on Aug. 20, in an operation that the Pentagon said ultimately failed to find the captives.

Senior U.S. officials say the Obama administration has begun directly providing weapons to Kurdish forces who have started to make gains against Islamic militants in Iraq.