U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, 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
Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Syria:
-- Near Manbij, five strikes engaged four separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle bomb and another vehicle.
-- Near Mar’a, two strikes engaged two separate ISIL tactical units, destroyed two fighting positions and an artillery system, and damaged another fighting position.
Strikes in Iraq
Ground attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Fallujah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Hit, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.
-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and suppressed a mortar position.
-- Near Mosul, a strike engaged an ISIL communications facility.
-- Near Qayyarah, three strikes engaged an ISIL vehicle bomb factory, a training camp, and a large tactical unit; destroyed two vehicles and an assembly area; and suppressed two tactical units.
-- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged two separate ISIL tactical units, and destroyed three fighting positions, a vehicle, and a weapons cache.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL safe house.
Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do 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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.