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Inherent Resolve Strikes Target 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, conducting 36 strikes consisting of 74 engagements, 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

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 26 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed three ISIS well heads.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed 15 oil stills and five ISIS well heads.

-- Near Raqqah, 10 strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed 24 ISIS oil facility assets and a fighting position.

-- Near Tabqah, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed five fighting positions and two roadside bombs.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes consisting of 48 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Kisik, a strike suppressed two mortar teams.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, four fighting positions, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, three ISIS vehicles, two front-end loaders, two ISIS watercraft, a weapons cache, and a tunnel; damaged 11 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

-- Near Qayyrarah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes destroyed eight weapons caches and two ISIS staging areas.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS fuel truck.

Additionally, two newly reported strikes were conducted April 20-21.

-- April 20: Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike destroyed a rocket system.

-- April 21: Near Tabqah, Syria, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

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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