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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 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

Coalition forces conducted eight strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, damaged a supply route, and destroyed two fighting positions, two vehicles and a weapons storage facility.

-- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed a fighting position and damaged a supply route.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition forces conducted six strikes consisting of 46 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Mosul, fives strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, five fighting positions, a vehicle, a supply cache, a command and control node, a sniper position, and a vehicle bomb; damaged seven supply routes and three fighting positions; and suppressed three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS heavy machine gun team.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four weapons caches, two tunnels systems, two explosives storage facilities, an explosives cache, and a mortar system.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIS terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIS' ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does 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.

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