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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, conducting 20 strikes consisting of 51 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 nine strikes consisting of 13 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two ISIS wellheads, two heavy equipment pieces and two oil storage tanks.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed three ISIS wellheads.

-- In Palmyra, a strike destroyed an ISIS improvised weapons facility and an improvised explosive device.

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

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions.

-- In Tabqah, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two tactical vehicles, a fighting position and a tank; and damaged four supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 38 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed a fighting position, a mortar system and a rocket-propelled grenade system; damaged three fighting positions, two supply routes and a supply cache; and suppressed eight ISIS mortar teams and four ISIS tactical units.

-- Near Qaim, six strikes destroyed two vehicle-borne-bomb facilities, a vehicle bomb factory, a vehicle bomb, an explosives cache and an ISIS finance office.

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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