Baghdad, September 2 (RHC)-- U.S. President Barack Obama has notified Congress of new U.S. airstrikes on Iraq nearly one month after they began. Over the weekend, U.S. warplanes bombed targets around the Iraqi city of Amerli, which has been under a two-month siege by the militant group Islamic State, or ISIL.

The attacks come as the U.S. president weighs strikes on ISIL in neighboring Syria. The United States has carried out more than 100 strikes on Iraq since Obama ordered the bombing campaign on August 8th.

On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to investigate the Islamic State for crimes and abuses at the request of the Iraqi government.