BAGHDAD: Kurdish forces, supported by US air strikes, took back two towns in northern Iraq from Islamic State militants but it will take time to turn the tide of the conflict, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters.

Hoshiyar Zebari said the Kurds had recaptured the towns of Guwair and Makhmur. Asked how long the United States would have to continue airstrikes to help the Kurds defeat the Islamic State, Zebari said: “As President Obama said, there is no time limit.”

US President Barack Obama said on Saturday that it would take some time to tackle Islamic State fighters whose latest push through northern Iraq has rattled the Baghdad government and its Western allies.

The US Defense Department confirmed that a new round of airstrikes by US fighter jets and unmanned drones has targeted IS militants in Iraq.

US Central Command says the strikes destroyed armed vehicles, including one that was firing on Kurdish forces in the approaches to the city of Irbil, and a mortar position.

The military says the airstrikes took place from about 2:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Sunday to about 5:45 a.m.

It was the fourth round of airstrikes against Islamic State forces by the US military since they were authorized by President Barack Obama.