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OIR Officials Report Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

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Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve and its partners continued to strike Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets in designated parts of Syria and Iraq between March 16-22, conducting 14 strikes consisting of 19 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

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Operation Inherent Resolve
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve continues to work by, with and through regional partners to militarily defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, in order to enable whole-of-coalition governmental actions to increase regional stability.
Photo By: John Kerr
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Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of six engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

On March 21, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

On March 20, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strike destroyed an ISIS staging area and a weapons cache.

On March 19, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strike engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory.

There were no reported strikes in Syria on March 18.

On March 17, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building and a weapons cache.

There were no reported strikes in Syria on March 16.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Tal Afar. The strike destroyed an ISIS tunnel.

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq on March 20-21.

On March 19, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagement against ISIS targets:

-- Near Hawijah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS cave..

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq on March 18.

On March 17, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Hawijah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS facility.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIS underground storage facility.

There were no reported strikes in Iraq on March 16.

Additional Strikes in Iraq

On March 11, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Makhmour. The strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS tunnel network.

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 ground-based tactical artillery, officials noted.

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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