BAGHDAD: An Iraqi army spokesman says the governor of the country’s contested Anbar province has been wounded during fighting with Islamic State militants.

Army military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi said Gov. Ahmed Al-Dulaimi was wounded Sunday during clashes near Haditha. The US said Sunday its forces launched airstrikes at the Haditha Dam to stop Islamic State militants from capturing it.

Al-Moussawi did not elaborate on Al-Dulaimi’s condition. The new strikes deepen Washington’s involvement in the conflict and were a significant escalation for President Barack Obama, who made his political career opposing the war in Iraq and pulled out US troops in 2011.

Previous strikes since the US air campaign began on August 8 had been mainly in support of Kurdish forces in the north.

“We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam, which remains under control of Iraqi security forces, with support from Sunni tribes,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.