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Counter-ISIS Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 22 strikes consisting of 82 engagements against ISIS targets yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Operation Inherent Resolve - Targeted Operations Against ISIS Terrorists
U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Photo By: DoD Graphic
VIRIN: 170113-D-ZZ999-001

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 21 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two barges, five wellheads, a fighting positions and a vehicle; and damaged two barges.

-- Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three weapons caches, two mortar systems, an artillery system, an ISIS training center, a vehicle, a vehicle-borne bomb and a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 61 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Mosul, fives strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed six vehicles, five tanker trucks, four mortar systems, 4 vehicle-borne bombs, two supply caches, a fighting position, an artillery system, an ISIS-held building, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS headquarters and a weapons storage facility; damaged 32 supply routes; and suppressed nine mortar teams, a sniper team, a medium-machine-gun team and an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two heavy machine guns and a weapons cache.

-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and an ISIS staging area and destroyed two vehicles, an ISIS-held building and a tactical vehicle.

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.

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