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Officials Provide Details of Latest Defeat-ISIS Strikes

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 21 strikes consisting of 49 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 15 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, five strikes destroyed 12 ISIS oil stills, two ISIS wellheads, two ISIS oil-separation tanks and an ISIS oil truck.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position and a vehicle-borne bomb.

-- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle, an ISIS headquarters and a fighting position.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 34 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tactical vehicle, an ISIS staging area and a front-end loader.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed two mortar systems, two ISIS staging areas, a vehicle, a vehicle-borne bomb and a fighting position; and damaged nine ISIS supply routes, two fighting positions and a command-and-control node.

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

May 29 Strikes

Additionally, officials announced details of six strikes conducted in Syria and Iraq on May 29 that weren't available in time for yesterday's report:

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, four strikes destroyed three ISIS-held buildings, two vehicle-borne bombs and a weapons cache.

-- Near Beiji, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS roadblocks, three vehicle-borne bombs, a tactical vehicle and a fighting position and damaged 26 ISIS supply routes.

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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