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Military Strikes Continue 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, conducting 35 strikes consisting of 114 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Operation Inherent Resolve - Targeted Operations Against ISIS Terrorists
U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Photo By: DoD Graphic
VIRIN: 170113-D-ZZ999-001

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 26 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed nine ISIS oil stills and three oil barrels.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two command-and-control nodes and a fighting position.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed eight ISIS wellheads.

-- Near Raqqa, 21 strikes engaged 14 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 22 fighting positions, two unmanned-aerial-system staging areas, two heavy machine guns, a vehicle and an explosives cache.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 84 engagements against ISIS targets:

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

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply cache.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a staging area and an ISIS barge.

-- Near Tal Afar, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed five rocket-propelled-grenade systems, four tunnel entrances, four fighting positions, four vehicle-borne bombs, two tactical vehicles, two weapons caches, two supply caches, a command-and-control node, a medium machine gun and an anti-tank weapon; damaged five supply routes; and suppressed 32 mortar systems.

Details on Earlier Strikes

Additionally, officials released details today on 46 strikes consisting of 59 engagements conducted in Syria and Iraq on Aug. 18 and 19 for which details were not yet available at the time of yesterday's report.

-- Near Raqqa on Aug. 18, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions.

-- Near Shadaddi on Aug. 19, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Raqqa on Aug. 19, 36 strikes engaged 22 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 29 fighting positions and seven command-and-control nodes.

-- Near Huwayjah, Iraq, on Aug. 19, a strike destroyed a command-and-control node.

-- Near Tal Afar on Aug. 19, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed 14 fighting positions, seven roadblocks, two tunnel entrances, two supply caches, a vehicle-borne-bomb facility, an improvised-explosive-device facility, a staging area, and an IED.

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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