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Coalition Targets ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Operation Inherent Resolve - Targeted Operations Against ISIL Terrorists
Operation Inherent Resolve
Operation Inherent Resolve - Targeted Operations Against ISIL Terrorists
Photo By: DoD Graphic
VIRIN: 160401-D-XT155-002

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 17 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike damaged an ISIL supply route.

-- Near Raqqah, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed a fighting position and a vehicle.

-- Near Ayn Isa, 13 strikes engaged eight ISIL tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positions, a vehicle, a cave, a bridge and an improvised explosive device.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Baghdad, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL-held buildings, four vehicles, three mortar systems, three medium machine guns, four tunnels and two vehicle bombs; and damaged two supply routes, a solar panel, a rocket-propelled grenade, a vehicle bomb facility and a fighting position.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroyed an oil tanker and damaged a tunnel.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL vehicle bomb facility

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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

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 that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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