An official website of the United States Government 
Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov

.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS

You have accessed part of a historical collection on defense.gov. Some of the information contained within may be outdated and links may not function. Please contact the DOD Webmaster with any questions.

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 30 strikes consisting of 66 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Operation Inherent Resolve special graphic
Operation Inherent Resolve
Operation Inherent Resolve. DoD graphic
Photo By: DoD graphic
VIRIN: 170706-D-ZZ999-900

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 22 strikes consisting of 32 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters and weapons cache.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS oil still.

-- Near Raqqa, 20 strikes engaged 13 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 24 fighting positions, a vehicle, a logistics node and ISIS communications infrastructure.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 34 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory, an ISIS front-end loader and an excavator.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters, a vehicle and a front-end loader.

-- Near Tal Afar, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed five mortar systems, four supply caches, two vehicles, two vehicle-borne bombs, two fighting positions, two recoilless rifles, an ISIS headquarters and a medium machine gun; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Earlier Strikes

Officials today also announced results of 50 strikes consisting of 67 engagements conducted Aug. 18-20 in Syria and Iraq for which the details were not yet available at the time of yesterday's report:

-- On Aug. 18 near Raqqa, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 19 near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.

-- On Aug. 19 near Raqqa, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five fighting positions, an improvised explosive device and a command-and-control node.

-- On Aug. 20 near Shadaddi, Syria, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.

-- On Aug. 20 near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.

-- On Aug. 20 near Raqqa, 33 strikes engaged 21 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 41 fighting positions, five command-and-control nodes, an IED, an ISIS headquarters, two supply caches, ISIS engineering equipment and an ISIS unmanned aerial system.

-- On Aug. 20 near Tal Afar, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions, three staging areas, two IEDs, two pieces of ISIS oil equipment, a rocket-propelled-grenade system and a vehicle; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

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.

Related Stories