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 remotely piloted
aircraft conducted 9 strikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, three strikes struck
three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb, an ISIL
tactical vehicle, and two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Hawl, two strikes struck an ISIL
tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL
vehicle staging area.
-- Near Mar’a, three strikes struck an
ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle, an ISIL artillery
piece, and an ISIL fighting position.
Strikes
in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely
piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 17 strikes in Iraq, coordinated
with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near Baghdadi, one strike stuck an
ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL staging area and an ISIL building.
-- Near Fallujah, two strikes struck a
large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb and three ISIL
fighting positions.
-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL
tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL
mortar position.
-- Near Ramadi, eight strikes struck four
separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL excavator, an ISIL bunker,
five ISIL weapons caches, five ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL buildings, an
ISIL mortar position, an ISIL bomb, an ISIL staging area, damaged three ISIL
entrenchments, and denied ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Sinjar, one strike struck an ISIL
tactical unit and destroyed one ISIL fighting position and an ISIL supply
cache.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, three strikes
struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL light machine
gun and three ISIL fighting positions.
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, 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 and 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 a 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.