U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 17 strikes consisting of 45 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 12 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three ISIS headquarters and an ISIS-held building.
-- Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 11 fighting positions and a vehicle.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 26 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters and a weapons cache.
-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two staging areas, two vehicles and a vehicle storage area.
-- Near Kisik, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.
-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed eight fighting positions, three mortar systems, three vehicle-borne bombs, two tactical vehicles, an anti-air system, an artillery system, a command-and-control node, a medium machine gun, an ISIS-held building and a weapons cache.
Aug. 20-22 Strikes
Officials also provided details today on 37 strikes consisting of 64 engagements conducted Aug. 20-22 in Syria and Iraq for which the information was not yet available in time for yesterday's report:
-- On Aug. 20 near Shadaddi, Syria, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
-- On Aug. 21 near Raqqa two strikes destroyed five ISIS fighting positions.
-- On Aug. 22 near Hawl, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle.
-- On Aug. 22 near Shadaddi, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions.
-- On Aug. 22 near Raqqa 27 strikes engaged 17 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 27 fighting positions, three improvised explosive devices, two command-and-control nodes, a logistics node and ISIS engineering equipment.
-- On Aug. 22 near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS weapons cache.
-- On Aug. 22 near Tal Afar, three strikes destroyed seven ISIS vehicles, two weapons caches and a vehicle-borne-bomb facility and damaged two 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.