President Barack Obama wants to build a coalition of moderate Sunni Muslims to help fight ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The president made the statement before a National Security Council meeting at the White House on the militant threat in Syria and Iraq.

The U.S. is already launching airstrikes against Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Obama is considering similar action in Syria.

The U.S. military says fighter planes have conducted five airstrikes against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq.

U.S. Central Command says in a brief statement that the fighters destroyed a Humvee, a tank, four armed vehicles and a construction vehicle near the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River. They also damaged an Islamic State checkpoint.

The attacks on Thursday brought to 106 the number of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq since Aug. 8.

The president also blamed Russia for the growing violence in Ukraine. Officials in Ukraine say two Russian military columns rolled into the southeastern part of the country after missiles were fired at a border post.

The U.S. and European Union have levied economic sanctions against Russia as punishment for its provocations, but the penalties appear to have had little impact on Russian President Vladimir Putin's thinking.