U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 22 strikes consisting of 35 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 18 strikes consisting of 21 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed an ISIS financial exchange facility and a vehicle-borne-bomb factory.
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three ISIS wellheads.
-- Near Raqqa, 12 strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicles, four fighting positions, three supply caches, a command-and-control node and an ISIS communications facility.
-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
Officials also provided details today on 16 previous strikes in Syria for which the information was unavailable in time for yesterday's report:
-- A July 20 strike near Raqqa destroyed six fighting positions and suppressed a mortar team.
-- A July 21 strike near Raqqa destroyed 14 fighting positions and suppressed a mortar team.
-- Two July 23 strikes near Raqqa damaged nine fighting positions.
-- Twelve July 25 strikes near Raqqa engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed five mortar positions, a vehicle-borne-bomb storage facility, a vehicle-borne bomb and ISIS equipment.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Mosul, a strike illuminated an area.
-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.
-- Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a malfunctioning piece of coalition equipment and a vehicle.
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.