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Strikes Continue Against ISIS Targets 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 30 strikes consisting of 51 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 the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 23 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed nine ISIS oil stills, three vehicles, an ISIS oil storage tank and an ISIS oil truck.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed six ISIS wellheads and five ISIS oil trucks.

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

-- Near Raqqa, 11 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicles, three fighting positions, a front end loader and an ISIS crane.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 13 strikes consisting of 55 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed a mortar system.

-- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS staging area, a vehicle and a supply cache.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed two command-and-control centers.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed 11 fighting positions, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, three medium machine guns, two mortar systems, a heavy machine gun and a command-and-control node; damaged 12 ISIS supply routes and four fighting positions; and suppressed a mortar team and a medium machine gun.

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed two vehicle-borne bombs and an explosives factory.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb facility.

-- Near Tuz, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed seven ISIS-held buildings and two vehicles.

May 30 Strikes

Task force officials also reported details today about strikes that occurred May 30 and for which details were not available in time for yesterday's report:

-- Near Raqqa in Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS command-and-control node.

-- Near Mosul in Iraq, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed two fighting positions, a heavy machine gun, a vehicle and a vehicle-borne bomb; damaged a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

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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