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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 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 seven strikes consisting of seven engagements in Syria:

-- Near Ar Raqqah, five strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units, destroyed three fighting positions, two ISIS tactical vehicles, and an ISIS weapons factory; and damaged a bridge.

-- Near Palmyra, two strikes destroyed two ISIS front-end loaders and a cave entrance.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted eight  strikes consisting of 73 engagements] in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Al Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS explosives cache.

-- Near Bayji, a strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 56 ISIS vehicles, 25 fighting positions, five rocket-propelled grenade systems, two medium machine guns, two mortar systems, and an ISIS car bomb; and suppressed 20 ISIS mortar teams and four ISIS tactical units.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIS car bomb factory.

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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