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Strikes Continue in Effort to Defeat 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 32 strikes consisting of 65 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 23 strikes consisting of 27 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed two ISIS wellheads and an ISIS pump jack.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS wellheads and a vehicle.

-- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed an ISIS pump jack.

-- Near Raqqa, 16 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units; destroyed 17 fighting positions, three vehicles and an ISIS excavator; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 38 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle, a heavy machine gun and an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building and an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed 13 fighting positions, four mortar systems, four medium machine guns, two rocket-propelled-grenade systems, two vehicle-borne bombs and a heavy machine gun; damaged six fighting positions; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

June 2 Strikes

Officials also reported that six strikes were conducted June 2 in Syria and Iraq for which details were not available in time for yesterday's report:

-- Near Abu Kamal, Syria, a strike destroyed four ISIS oil separation tanks and three oil storage tanks.

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions.

-- Near Mosul, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and a sniper; destroyed six medium machine guns, four heavy machine guns, a rocket-propelled-grenade system and an unmanned aerial vehicle; damaged 11 ISIS supply roads; and suppressed a medium-machine-gun team.

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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