U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 106 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 23 strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three ISIS oil processing items and two ISIS wellheads.
--Near Raqqa, eight strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, three vehicle bombs, two ISIS oil storage tanks, two ISIS oil stills, two excavators, a front-end loader, an improvised explosive device, and an ISIS staging area.
-- Near Tabqah, 11 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions, seven tactical vehicles, a vehicle and a supply cache.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 66 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, three mortar systems, two sniper positions, a tactical vehicle, a command-and-control node, a vehicle bomb, a front-end loader; damaged 24 ISIS supply routes, three fighting positions; and suppressed six mortar teams and two ISIS tactical units.
-- Near Sinjar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS staging area.
-- Near Tal Afar, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two front-end loaders, a fighting position, an ISIS staging area and an ISIS-held building.
Additionally, 13 strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on May 10 that closed within the last 24 hours:
-- Near Raqqah, Syria, seven strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 12 fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, a command-and-control node, a supply cache, an ISIS staging area, a tactical vehicle, and a vehicle.
-- Near Tabqah, Syria, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position, an ISIS headquarters and a vehicle bomb facility.
-- Near Mosul, Iraq, four strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units: destroyed five rocket-propelled grenade systems, three vehicles, two vehicle bombs, two heavy machine guns, two medium machine guns, an ISIS staging area, a fighting position, a command-and-control node, a weapons cache; damaged 19 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed five mortar teams.
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.