U.S. and coalition military forces have
continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria
and Iraq, 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
Attack, fighter, and bomber aircraft conducted
13 strikes in Syria:
-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes struck two
ISIL oil and gas separation plants.
-- Near Hasakah, four strikes struck an
ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 13 ISIL buildings, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL
fighting position.
-- Near Hawl, three strikes struck an
ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building and four ISIL fighting
positions.
-- Near Raqqah, four strikes struck three
ISIL headquarters and an ISIL bivouac.
Strikes
in Iraq
Bomber, attack, and fighter aircraft
conducted 16 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s
government:
-- Near Kisik, three strikes struck an
ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL
bunkers, two ISIL weapons caches, and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Mosul, four strikes struck an
ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL staging area, an ISIL headquarters and destroyed an
ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL fighting position, and
suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck two
separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL vehicle-borne bombs, 29
ISIL fighting positions, six ISIL vehicles, 16 ISIL machine gun positions,
three ISIL tactical vehicles, four ISIL vehicle-borne bomb staging areas, an
ISIL bulldozer, five ISIL weapons caches, an ISIL building, an ISIL staging
area, and denied ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Sinjar, one strike destroyed an
ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes
suppressed an ISIL rocket position and an ISIL mortar position.
The strike release published on Nov. 16
includes a French strike listed as “Near Ar Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL
storage depot.” After further coordination with the French Ministry of Defense,
CJTF-OIR officials said they have determined that France conducted two separate
strikes on two different targets. The first target was an ISIL storage depot and
the second strike against an ISIL command and control node.
Definition
of a ‘Strike’
A strike, as defined in the CJTF
releases, means one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same
geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect for that
location.
So, the officials said, having a single
aircraft deliver a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike. Multiple
aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of buildings, vehicles
and weapon systems in a compound, with the cumulative effect of making that
facility [or facilities] harder or impossible to use is also considered a
single strike, task force officials said.
Accordingly, CJTF-OIR does not report the
number or type of aircraft employed in each strike, the number of munitions
dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points
against a target.
Part
of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of
Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group
and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community.
The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group's
ability to project terror and conduct operations.
Coalition nations conducting strikes in
Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting
strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.