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Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes 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, conducting 35 strikes consisting of 78 engagements, 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 19 strikes consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed five ISIS wellheads.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes destroyed 10 ISIS oil-processing equipment items, four ISIS fuel trucks and three ISIS wellheads.

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit, a fighting position and a mortar system.

-- Near Tabqah, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed three ISIS command-and-control nodes, a fighting position and a heavy machine gun; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

Additionally, two strikes were conducted April 23 that have closed within the last 24 hours.

-- On April 23, near Raqqa, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed two fighting positions and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 16 strikes consisting of 54 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Kisik, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and suppressed a mortar team and a rocket team.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed four weapons caches, two vehicle-borne bombs, a mortar system, a rocket-propelled grenade system, an ISIS fuel truck, a front-end loader, a rocket system and an ISIS staging area; and damaged four ISIS supply routes and a fighting position.

-- Near Sinjar, eight strikes destroyed five weapons facilities, two ISIS staging areas, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne bomb factory and an improvised bomb factory.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache, an ISIS staging area and a vehicle-borne bomb.

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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