U.S. Conducts 14 Strikes on Islamic State fighters, Weighs Sending Up to 300 Troops

U.S. aircraft pounded Islamic State militants in 14 air strikes near Iraq's largest dam in the past 24 hours, officials said Wednesday, amid IS threats to kill a second American journalist.

Since Tuesday, U.S. drones and fighter jets destroyed or damaged six IS Humvees, three sites for improvised explosive devices, one mortar tube and two armed trucks, U.S. Central Command said.

The latest air raids brought to 84 the number conducted since August 8. Of those, 51 were in support of Iraqi forces near Mosul dam, now under the control of Iraqi and Kurdish security forces.

The command said the latest strikes served to "further expand" Iraqi and Kurdish control of the area.

"These strikes were conducted under authority to support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense force operations, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities, and support humanitarian efforts," it added.

The U.S. also weighed sending up to 300 troops to Iraq to reinforce security at American diplomatic installations, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.

"We are considering sending fewer than 300," the official said, saying it was in response to a State Department request for additional security personnel.

The statement and the decision to increase the number of troops came after the Islamic State movement, which has seized much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, released a video showing a masked militant beheading U.S. reporter James Foley.

The black-clad man said the 40-year-old freelance journalist, who was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012, had been killed to avenge American air strikes against IS.

He paraded a second U.S. reporter, Steven Sotloff, before the camera and said he too would die unless Obama changes course.