U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 19 strikes consisting of 63 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 14 strikes consisting of 18 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Abu Kamal, five strikes destroyed 19 ISIS oil refinement stills, four weapon caches, four wellheads, three separator tanks and a storage tank.
-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 25 ISIS oil refinement stills, five oil tanks and 10 oil tankers.
-- Near Raqqa, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed a fighting position and a mortar tube, and suppressed a fighting position.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 45 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 18 fighting positions, seven medium machine guns and two rocket-propelled grenade systems; and damaged 12 fighting positions.
-- Near Qayyarah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two mortar systems and two vehicles.
July 10 Strikes
Officials also reported today the results of July 10 strikes in Syria and Iraq for which details were unavailable at the time of yesterday's update:
-- Near Raqqa, Syria, 15 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units; destroyed nine ISIS-held buildings, six fighting positions, two improvised bombs, a command-and-control node, a tunnel entrance and an ISIS communication tower; and damaged a command-and-control node.
-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed 21 fighting positions and two medium machine guns, and damaged a fighting position.
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.