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
Fighter and
remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Syria:
-- Near Hawl,
three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL
vehicle bomb, and four ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Raqqah,
one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Ayn
Isa, one strike produced in inconclusive results.
-- Near Dayr
Az Zawr, three strikes struck an ISIL gas and oil separation plant well-head.
-- Near Mar’a,
three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL
building and wounded an ISIL fighter.
Strikes in Iraq
Bomber,
fighter, ground attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes in
Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near
Habbaniyah, one strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Kisik,
one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Mosul,
two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL heavy
machine gun and two ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near
Ramadi, seven strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an
ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL bunker, two ISIL vehicle bombs, 15 ISIL
fighting positions, 12 ISIL buildings, three ISIL light machine guns, three
ISIL rocket-propelled grenades, an ISIL anti-air artillery piece, an ISIL
assembly area, five ISIL staging areas, an ISIL weapons cache, and denied ISIL
access to terrain.
-- Near
Sinjar, one strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL fighting
position.
Task force
officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly
the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect.
Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon
against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft
delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in
a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets
harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do 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 terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct
operations, officials said.
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.