U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, 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
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes in Syria:
-- Near Bab, two strikes destroyed a tactical vehicle and an excavator.
-- Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed three fighting positions, an artillery system, a supply cache, a vehicle-borne bomb, a front-end loader, a tactical vehicle and an ISIL weapons storage facility; and damaged a supply route.
-- Near Dayr Az Zayr, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft, as well as rocket artillery, conducted five strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed a command-and-control node, a heavy machine gun, a tactical vehicle, 14 fighting positions, two vehicles, a mortar, an ISIL-held building, a vehicle-borne bomb and an ISIL weapons factory; suppressed an ISIL mortar team and artillery crew; and damaged 32 supply routes and an ISIL defensive berm.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb.
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 it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.