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Military Strikes Target ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 32 strikes consisting of 39 engagements, 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

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 28 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed three ISIS wellheads, two oil storage tanks and a pumpjack.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed eight ISIS wellheads, a excavator, a crane and a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa, 23 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed 19 fighting positions, five ISIS-held buildings, three improvised explosive device factories, an ISIS communications tower and a unmanned aerial system launch site.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed three IED factories.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

-- Near Rawah, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed five ISIS tunnel entrances and a mortar system.

Aug. 4 Strikes

Additionally, 15 strikes consisting of 17 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Aug. 3 that closed within the last 24 hours.

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, 11 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions, a staging area and a tunnel.

-- Near Shadaddi, Syria, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node.

-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike illuminated an area.

-- Near Rawah, Iraq, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Tal Afar, Iraq, a strike destroyed three IEDs.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force 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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