U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted six strikes in Syria:
-- Near Near Tanf, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Manbij, five strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL vehicles, four ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL command and control node.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near Baghdadi, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL storage facility, an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL mortar system.
-- Near Albu Hayat, a strike destroyed an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Hit, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system.
-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Mosul, a strike struck an ISIL vehicle bomb-making facility.
-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed two ISIL vehicle bombs and two ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Sinjar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and two ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL supply caches, two ISIL tunnel entrances and an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Qayyarah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.