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Officials Release Details of Latest Strikes Against ISIS in Iraq, Syria

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U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 40 strikes consisting of 60 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 35 strikes consisting of 45 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed four ISIS front-end loaders, four ISIS excavators, an ISIS crane and an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, nine strikes destroyed five ISIS oil trucks, four fuel separator tanks, two ISIS wellheads and an ISIS oil well.

-- Near Raqqa, 24 strikes engaged 18 ISIS tactical units; destroyed 19 boats, 12 fighting positions, eight vehicles, a house bomb and a weapons storage facility; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 15 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed four fighting positions, a vehicle, a supply cache, a medium machine gun and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle.

June 4 Strikes

Additionally, five strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 3 that closed within the last 24 hours.

-- Near Raqqa, Syria, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed 49 boats, five fighting positions, three anti-air artillery systems, two tactical vehicles and two ISIS staging areas.

-- Near Kisik, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed two fighting positions and a weapons cache, damaged 10 ISIS supply routes and suppressed a mortar 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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