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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 21 strikes consisting of 58 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Near Raqqa, in Syria, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets. The strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions, two vehicles, two logistics nodes, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and a VBIED factory.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes consisting of 50 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Baghdad, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions, two ISIS headquarters, a VBIED and a tactical vehicle.

-- Near Huwijah, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine VBIEDs, nine fighting positions, five tunnels, two vehicles, two weapons caches, two command-and-control nodes, a VBIED facility, an artillery system, a tactical vehicle, a supply cache; and suppressed five mortar teams.

-- Near Rawah, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions, four VBIEDs, two command-and-control nodes, two ISIS staging areas, two tactical vehicles, a bridge; and suppressed a sniper.

Additional Strikes

Additionally, 27 strikes consisting of 53 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 20 for which the information was not available in time for yesterday's report:

-- On Sept. 20, near Raqqa, Syria, 25 strikes destroyed 30 fighting positions, a logistics node, a an ISIS supply route and damaged two fighting positions, and suppressed a fighting position.

-- On Sept. 20, near Huwijah, Iraq, two strikes destroyed seven ISIS command-and-control nodes, three communications towers, and a supply depot.

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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