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Inherent Resolve Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists 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 28 strikes consisting of 53 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 17 strikes consisting of 20 engagements against ISIS targets:

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

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS wellheads, an ISIS fuel truck, an ISIS oil tank and a crane.

-- Near Raqqa, two strikes destroyed a command-and-control node and a front-end loader.

-- Near Tabqah, eight strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, two command-and-control nodes, two bunkers and an ISIS staging area.

Additionally, a strike was conducted April 26 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- Near Shadaddi, a strike destroyed a mortar system, an unmanned aircraft launch facility, a command-and-control node and a vehicle-borne-bomb facility.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 47 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight front-end loaders, two recoilless rifles, a vehicle, a mortar system, an excavator and an anti-air artillery system; damaged a vehicle-borne-bomb facility; and suppressed two mortar teams.

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three weapons caches and an ISIS media center.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle and a vehicle-borne bomb.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS staging area and two bunkers.

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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