U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 37 strikes consisting of 65 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 29 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes destroyed five ISIS oil tanks, three ISIS wellheads, a tactical vehicle and an ISIS tank.
-- Near Raqqa, 22 strikes engaged 20 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 21 fighting positions and four vehicles.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 33 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed a tactical vehicle and an ISIS front-end loader.
-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and three vehicle-borne bombs.
-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed 14 fighting positions, six mortar systems, two sniper positions, a weapons cache and a tactical vehicle.
-- Near Samarra, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS-held buildings, three vehicle-borne bombs and a vehicle.
June 11 Strikes
Additionally, seven strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 11 that closed within the last 24 hours.
-- Near Raqqa, Syria, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed three fighting positions and suppressed a sniper team.
-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike destroyed three barriers and an ISIS staging area and damaged eight ISIS supply routes.
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.