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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 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

Coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

-- Near Bab, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Shadaddi, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a tactical vehicle and a weapons cache.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; damaged a bridge , and destroyed 70 oil barrels, three oil storage tanks, three fighting positions, two oil refinement stills and a weapons storage area.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed five oil wellheads.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 35 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building and a fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; damaged 11 supply routes; suppressed five mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed eight front-end loaders, four excavators, three watercraft, an ISIS-held building and a barge.

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 ISIS vehicle is a 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 ISIS 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 ISIS 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 ISIS' ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

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