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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 yesterday, conducting 15 strikes consisting of 38 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 13 strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal; five strikes destroyed three ISIS oil pumps, three ISIS wellheads and a fighting position.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr; three strikes destroyed 12 ISIS fuel tankers, an ISIS wellhead and an ISIS oil pump.

-- Near Raqqa; a strike destroyed a fighting position and suppressed a mortar team.

-- Near Tabqah; four strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes near Mosul yesterday, consisting of 24 engagements against ISIS targets. The strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two mortar systems, a front-end loader, an artillery system, a fighting position, a vehicle-bomb factory and a medium machine gun.

Additionally, an April 30 strike for which information wasn't available in time for yesterday's report destroyed an ISIS weapons factory, officials said.

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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