Pentagon denies reports of bombing in Iraq

The Pentagon has denied reports the US has bombed Iraq in the wake of increased aggression by the Islamic State militant group.

A spokesman for the Kurdish peshmerga force said US warplanes bombed jihadist targets in two areas of northern Iraq.

"F-16s first entered Iraqi airspace on a reconnaissance mission and are now targeting Daash (Islamic State, also known as ISIL) in Gwer and in the Sinjar region," Holgard Hekmat said.

But the Pentagon Press Secretary has adamantly denied the bombings.

“Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken,” Rear Adm. John Kirby tweeted.

Gwer lies just 30 kilometres southeast of the main checkpoint leading to the autonomous Kurdistan region.

A series of jihadist attacks in that area and further east in the Sinjar area near the Syrian border has displaced tens of thousands of civilians in recent days.