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Inherent Resolve Strikes Target 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 16 strikes consisting of 36 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 16 strikes consisting of 36 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two ISIS oil stills, two oil tanks and a separator.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed five ISIS oil stills.

-- Near Raqqa, 14 strikes engaged 13 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 26 fighting positions, an ISIS headquarters, a command-and-control node and ISIS engineering equipment.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 45 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed two ISIS headquarters and two weapons caches.

-- Near Tal Afar, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed eight fighting positions, seven mortar systems, four ISIS-held buildings, two tactical vehicles, two medium machine guns, a vehicle, an anti-air artillery system, a weapons cache, a command-and-control node, an artillery system and a supply cache; and damaged four supply routes.

Strikes in Previous Days

Officials also reported today details of 30 strikes consisting of 66 engagements conducted in Syria and Iraq on previous days for which the information was not yet available at the time of yesterday's report:

-- On Aug. 19 near Raqqa, a strike suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

-- On Aug. 21 near Raqqa, 24 strikes engaged 16 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 33 fighting positions, a logistics node, a mortar system and an anti-air artillery system.

-- On Aug. 21 near Tal Afar, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 49 vehicles, 21 oil trucks, three front-end loaders, two command-and-control nodes and a tank; damaged a supply route; and suppressed five mortar teams.

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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