WASHINGTON, August 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Militants of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq have so far used no air defense weapons against the US Air Force that delivers strikes on their positions, spokesman for the US Department of Defense said on Tuesday.

He said the US command was carefully monitoring the air defense weapons use threat and doing everything to reduce it. At this point, such attacks by the militants have not been recorded.

The Pentagon official disproved media reports, alleging that the terrorists are armed with the American-made short-range man-portable air defense systems (MANPAD) that they seized from the Iraqi government forces. The spokesman said Americans had never supplied such weapons to the Iraqi security forces.

US President Barack Obama on August 7 authorized “targeted airstrikes” on IS positions in Iraq to protect American personnel and help Iraqi forces. Obama also authorized the provision of humanitarian aid “to help save Iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain” without food and water.