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Counter-ISIS Strikes Target 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 22 strikes consisting of 80 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 15 strikes consisting of 19 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Hawl, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a vehicle bomb.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 16 ISIS oil tankers, two pieces of ISIS oil processing equipment, two fighting positions and a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a front-end loader, an ISIS crane, and a house-born improvised explosive device.

-- Near Tabqah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle and a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 61 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, five mortar systems, a tactical vehicle, a house-borne improvised explosive device, a recoilless rifle, a medium machine gun, a command-and-control node, a weapons cache; damaged 27 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed eight mortar teams an artillery system.

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

Additionally, six strikes were conducted in Syria on May 11 that closed within the last 24 hours:

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

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed two vehicle bombs, a fighting position, a weapons cache, a vehicle; and damaged two ISIS supply routes and a bridge.

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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